Did you have to take riding lessons?
Bringold: I can already ride, but I took lessons again to improve my style. Because I hadn't ridden for a few years, I just wanted to play it safe.
Do you get on well with the horse?
Bringold: It's still a little uncertain, but it will work out - we've already trained together in Munich. It's working better and better.
How did you prepare for the role?
Bringold: I read Karl May's Winnetou books to better understand what he really wanted to convey. Tom can explain it well, but it was important for me to read the stories myself.
The story takes place well over 100 years ago - is the image of women that was common back then still relevant?
Bringold: Love will still work the same way in a hundred years' time as it does today - or as it did back then. It's so simple and so complicated at the same time, and that's exactly what it is, simple and yet complex and difficult. But she chooses her love herself and decides for herself who she wants to give her love to. She is a strong woman who doesn't let herself get down.
"The audience should immerse themselves in this world with us and take the story with them."
What do you value most about working with Tom Volkers?
Bringold: That I can be absolutely honest. He accepts criticism, I don't have to pretend or put my foot in my mouth. I'm not afraid to get involved - even though he's the producer and cast me - and could fire me from the production at any time.
Tom Volkers, what do you like about Giusy Bringold?
Volkers: That she dares to do something. She's a doer, demands a lot of herself, is success-oriented, ambitious and strict with herself. But now it gets interesting: we rehearsed a scene yesterday where everything suddenly turned into a very sensitive scene. We all had tears in our eyes during this scene, even the director. That was the first time I felt insecurity in her hands. That's nice, because admitting weakness is human greatness. It was precisely this perfectionism and the discipline that tipped over at that moment, when I thought: let go, let yourself be led!
Bringold: Giving up control ...
Volkers:... exactly, relinquish control and trust.
That sounds good, you are also experiencing your own adventure here. There's obviously a lot of passion involved. What would you like to pass on to visitors to the open-air play?
Volkers: I hope that visitors who come for the second time will think: "Hey, that was so nice! I hope they bring another story next year." And that the spectators who come for the first time regret not having been there the first time. I hope that they take the whole range of personalities to their hearts. That they can immerse themselves in this world together with us - that they take the story with them and that it resonates for days to come.
