Lots of coats, jackets, trousers, blouses, dresses, skirts and shoes were transported by van to the festival site today. But for one very special costume there was no room in the back.

A three-metre tall, eerily beautiful figure walked from the theatre to the festival grounds in the cathedral square. It represents two dream figures in one. One is the ghost of Fruma-Sara, Lazar Wolf's first wife, and the other is Grandma Tzeitel, Golde's late grandmother. Both appear to Tevye in a dream and confirm his daughter Tzeitel's wish to marry.

Many busy hands worked on this abstract figure in Theater Erfurt’s workshops. They tailored, draped, glued, ruched, crafted and painted them, trying them on and changing them over and over again. It took about four weeks to complete. Gudrun Schade, acting not only as the matchmaker Jente but also as Grandma Zeitel and Fruma-Sara, will be slipping into the costume of the ghostly figure in all 20 performances of Anatevka, carrying around 20 kilograms on her shoulders as a kind of rucksack.

The idea for this abstract ghost figure came from costume designer Jula Reindell and director Ulrich Wiggers. The substructure was supplied by the locksmithery. Fabrics, dyes, arms and legs were provided by the costume department including millinery, tailor’s shop and theatre sculptor’s workshop. Finally, the oversized head with its expressive grimace was made by the make-up department.

We are already looking forward to the moment when Fruma-Sara will step out onto the cathedral steps.