"Music transports emotions at a whole other level than language can," says Yilmaz. "I first have to understand a word in order to feel it. Music doesn't need a translation." This is why the director opted for musical theatre. "It matches my manner of storytelling. I don't just want to look at complex topics through an intellectual lens, but rather to convey them as a sensory experience," says Yilmaz. This works extraordinarily well in theatre for young audiences, which is her specialty.

The director, born in 1994, is now staging the production OCTOPUS LADY at the Tischlerei. It is a new work by composer Sidney Corbett, with the libretto written by his daughter Chiara Corbett. Geared toward an audience five years old and up, the story addresses a timeless topic: fear. Specifically, the fear of the unknown, of the dark. One night, the heroine Elli finds herself in the home of the titular Octopus Lady. The door handles begin to speak and the walls start to breathe. The music "makes this very strikingly vivid," explains Yilmaz.

Yilmaz is passionate about soundscapes derived from everyday life. She most recently put on the day-care production leuchtend, klein, zitronensauer at the Theater an der Parkaue, in which the protagonist Blob shrinks down in one scene and slips into a popcorn machine, where it dances to the sound of the popping corn. "I'm able to find music in these types of sounds," says Yilmaz.

She grew up in a musical family: Her father works as a solo clarinettist at the Staatsorchester Mainz. When she was a child and did not want to go to day-care, she was allowed to attend his rehearsals. Her own artistic path led her from children's extras and choir to theater jobs as a teenager, a costume internship, various directing internships and assistantships before ultimately studying musical theatre direction.

Yilmaz's focus is on developing plays, often interwoven with biographical material. One example is Alles, was wir sind, a work about intercultural identity. Her final production at the Staatstheater Darmstadt was dedicated to Luise Büchner, the sister of Georg Büchner, "who was a great feminist in her time and a strong advocate for equal education," Yilmaz explains. She was also involved early on in the creation process of OCTOPUS LADY as director of the premiere, exchanging ideas with composer Sidney Corbett even before he began work and was involved in revising the libretto: "For example, we discussed what message we wanted to leave the audience with: Is it about overcoming fear? Or that it's okay to be afraid?" asks Yilmaz.

She is aware that her work will be the first musical theatre experience for some of the children in the audience, and she thus wants to make the most of the stage design and show what the stage is capable of. "It will get really colourful; we'll play a lot with light." This, says Yilmaz, is the best way to get children excited for the theatre early on. "By creating experiences for them."

Transcript: Patrick Wildermann