Berlin’s Volksbühne is the city’s most controversial theatre. Now it is producing Wagner with an odd cast. “Cleaners, stagehands and ticket-punchers all appeared on stage last night in the German premiere of Wagner’s three-act comedy The Mastersingers of Nuremberg. Around 45 staff took part in the chorus. Before last night most had sung only the odd Christmas carol. The staff, who could not read music, wore jeans and T-shirts and appeared for free.”