The Esch2022 REMIX Opening was a one-of-a-kind participatory event. Taking place across multiple sites around the centres of Esch and Belval, it was one of the largest immersive experiences Europe has ever attempted, having counted 18.000 on-site visitors and another 14.000 watched the livestream from home. Esch2022’s main themes of participation and co-creation had already gathered the creativity of Luxembourg and North-East France, and had begun to amaze local audiences since fall 2021. This anticipation was released in an exciting discovery, and unique entertainment ride taken alongside the various communities of the Esch2022 territory! Esch2022 and its volunteers invited guests to experience the Land of the Red Rocks through live music, DJ sets, movement workshops, light and video installations, along with a wide variety of spectacular and off-beat performances.

The REMIX Opening’s ambition was to create participatory journeys which invite locals and visitors to discover the creative energy and beauty of Luxembourg’s former cradle of wealth. Young and old were invited to be part of a music festival, a scavenger hunt, and an immersive digital and analogue experience. They were allowed to sign up digitally and receive their personal, secret mission that took them on an exciting journey through a very special night on February 26, 2022.

While the immersive event took over the former steel mill area in Esch-Belval, the night’s framework plot was put onto two major stages 5km apart from one another with actors, puppeteers, and dancers (theatre direction: Les Enfants Terribes of London). Two more auxiliary stages were added in Esch City and Rockhal, Luxemburg’s largest indoor concert venue. The latter housed a bespoke stage show (Stage Direction by Gabriela Flores and Imogen Knight, lead artists: Frank Wiedermann, Matthew Herbert) that showcased music originally composed by young local artists for this very occasion. Six immersive centers where built in Belval, each designed as participatory activation areas with each their own cast of approx. 50 dancers, lead actors, immersive volunteers, and a bespoke responsive media installation. The night ended after enough co-create energy was produced so that the two video projection-mapped rockets (which were designed by school children of the region in a precursory school activation devised by us) could leave Esch and take all the wonderful locally grown ideas into the world.

We encouraged our guests to celebrate together, thus harnessing and unleashing the power of co-creation needed to make the biggest launch in the region’s history possible.

Creative Concepting

• Delivery of discursive groundwork synthesising frameworks for artistic participatory production issued by the European commission, and the latest research on immersive theatre and critical approaches towards audience participation.
• Organising the concept phase for this new approach to opening ceremonies around several prototyping / design sprint workshops, together with a bunch of top notch creatives of the industry (from cultural strategists, to dancers, dramaturges, directors, ceremony producers, etc.). Turn over of consecutive concept updates and overseeing their coherence to the project parameters.
• Activating local creative partners and establishing a working relationship with them.

Creative Production for the Immersive and Staged Shows

• Executive creative production, design of creative processes, team structures, and initiating project structures.
• Designing and overseeing the creative processes of the REMIX Festival and the REMIX Opening.
• Pulling together all aspects from across all creative departments and reconciling them to the concept and project parameters.
• Steering and creative directing the day-to-day activities for the creative team around the immersive and stage areas.
• Supported local teams in volunteer strategy and management pipeline, costume & make up liaison, marketing liaison.
• Concept and script work, design support.
• Throuble-shooting for all departments and affiliated creatives.

Read more about the REMIX Opening and its two-year production pipeline over at battleROYAL’s blog.

This show was a battleROYAL production in the Esch2022 project pipeline to celebrate the region’s award of European Capital of Culture 2022.

Photos by Chris Moylan, Kooné, GroßeTennis, Andy Machals (Instagram:@andymachals).

Creative Team Credits

CONCEPT, DIRECTION & PRODUCTION – battleROYAL Berlin
Brendan Shelper – Remix Opening Director
Judith Hoch – Executive Producer
Sarah La Tragna – Producer
@andymachals – Creative Producer
Ky Lloyd – Production Manager
Jonathan Buckels – Creative Director
@michael.masberg – Associate Creative Director and Line Director
Basil Hogios – Musical Director and Sound Designer
Chris Moylan – Lighting Design
Xevi Venancio – Art Direction and Graphic Design
Alex Burgos – Line Director
Florian Bücking – Aerial Director and Creative Coordinator
@emilyrmeyer – Senior Project Manager
Fran Koetter – Production Manager
@duckielorange – Project Manager
Thao Tran – Creative Producer Digital Engagements
Sabrina Deichert – Artist Producer
Stephane LeBreton – Artist Manager
Alessia Avallone & Alessandro Carta – Project Assistants
Alexandra Mittag – Brand Strategist
Rina Soloveitchik – Editor
Michelle Kastrop – Marketing Assistant

VIDEO & MEDIA DESIGN
@parkafilm – Video Producer
@duncan.mcdade – Lead Motion Designer
Marc Osswald – Art Direction Video and VJ
@alf_ruge – Motion Designer
@lomohypnagogia – Motion Designer and Editor
@grossestennis_xr – AR Artist
@maxin10sity
@_craigjones96 – Data Manager

SCRIPT & THEATRE DIRECTION – @lesenfantsterr
Oliver Lansley – Artistic Director
James Seager – Creative Director
Fiona Porritt – Creative Producer & Writer
Anthony Spargo – Writer
Keziah Serreau – Stage Director
Garrett Moore & Thom Mitchell – Immersive Directors
Tanya Dickinson – Production Assistant
Tristan Bruemmer – Translator & Assistant Stage Director
Beth Hoare-Barnes – Company Stage Manager
Sophia Elinor Dalton, Tina Dézart, Amelia Daisy McElhinney and Nicole Jane Richardson – Stage Manager

FUTURE FREQUENCIES ARTISTIC LEADS
Frank Wiedemann & Matthew Herbert – Musical Directors
Imogen Knight – Movement Director
Gabriela Flores – Stage Director
Basil Hogios & B Deodato – Musical Associate

CHOREOGRAPHY
@deniswe – Choreographer
Dolores Dujak & Sebastian Hörman – Choreographer Assistant
Lil Amok – Dance Mentor
Ini Hanfmann & Terry Stewart – Choreography Assistant

SHOW CALLING
@Konstanzeagatz – Broadcast Show Caller
Sebastian Maier-Hallard
Stefan Kröger
Jens Bosch

TECHNICAL PLANNING – @adhoc_engineering
Malte Joergens & Kalle Reichert – Technical Directors
Peter Gombac – Technical Director Video
Tim Schweizer – CAD Masterplaner
Tobias Nievelstein – Technical Director Sound

HEALTH & SAFETY
SATURN production – Angelo Plate

TECHNICAL PRODUCTION
Steven Jackson – Technical Designer Projection
Alan Cox – Projection Consultant
Bodo Bergmann – Associate Technical Director Sound
Gerrit Hotzel – Technician
Sean Röller – Technical Assistant

TECHNICAL SUPPLIERS
Apex Luxembourg
Production Resource Group AG
Magnum France
Stageco Belgium N.V.
The Powershop BV
LunatX

SET DESIGN – @hinnerup_production
Christian Jensen – Lead Designer Props and Decorations
Niels Thorsen, Micala Rode & Rebecca Levy – Props and Decorations
Heidi Trusback – Tailor
Paul Kirkland – Technical Drawings
Niels Bunk Stenger – Light and Sound Technician
Nico Dumitru Bucataru, Morten Schmidt & Calin Conescu – Workshop

LIGHTING
Matthias Schöffmann
Raphael Demonthy
Daniel Gündner
Sebastian Hüwig

STAGE MANAGEMENT
Sissy Moylan
Nadja Zoltek
Jürgen Cappell
Anne Engelkamp

COSTUME & MAKE-UP
Isabel Seidel – Costume Design
Kira Mathis, Aleksandra Kuchta & Anne Fidler – Costume Supervisors
Linda Mikolaskova, Celine Feltgen, Claudia Rinaldis, Isabelle Georg & Luca Demichele – Make-up Artist

BROADCAST
@freecaster / Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE)
Franck Villano – TV Director

DOCUMENTATION
Kooné & Paul Gärtner – Photographer
Christian Fussenegger – Videographer