On stage: a bell that weighs two tons, a skateboard halfpipe and a waterfall. The Austrian performance artist Florentina Holzinger demolishes stage genres and visual habits. Setting out from Paul Hindemith’s one-act opera Sancta Susanna (premiered in 1922), she joins forces with an ensemble of opera singers, sex workers and body modification artists to investigate the way female identities and bodies are trimmed in religious systems and rites. The drama about a nun’s lust and sexuality is intertwined with new compositions by Johanna Doderer, Born in Flamez and Stefan Schneider as well as with religious works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Sergei Rachmaninoff and others.
It is a musical and performative reflection on bodies and sexuality that evolves into a celebration of a mass together with the audience.
Direction, Choreography, Performance Florentina Holzinger Musical Direction Marit Strindlund Composition act 1 Paul Hindemith, Sancta Susanna Op. 21 Composition, Supervision Stage Music Johanna Doderer Composition, Supervision Stage Music Born in Flamez Co-Composer, Co-Producer Nadine Neven Raihani Composition, Sound design Stefan Schneider Performance by and with Andrea Baker (Klementia), Annina Machaz, Blathin Eckhardt, Born in Flamez, Cornelia Zink (Susanna), Emma Rothmann (Alte Nonne), Fibi Eyewalker, Florentina Holzinger, Gibrana Cervantes, Jasko Fide, Fleshpiece, Laura London, Kale Roberts, Luz De Luna Duran, Malin Nilsson, Netti Nüganen, Paige A. Flash, Renée Copraij, Sajoa Alvarez Ruiz, Sara Lancerio, Sophie Duncan, Xana Novais Choir Opera choir of Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Orchestra Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin Stage music Blathin Eckhardt, Gibrana Cervantes, Lane Shi AKA otay:onii, Page A. Flash Choir direction Aki Schmitt Dramaturgy Felix Ritter, Fernando Belfiore, Judith Lebiez (Mecklenburg State Theatre Schwerin), Miron Hakenbeck (Stuttgart State Opera), Philipp Amelungsen, Renée Copraij, Sara Ostertag Direction assistance Xavier Perez Stage, Costume Nikola Knežević Technical direction Stephan Werner Technical assistance Dörte Wilforth, Emma Juliard, Jan Havers Stunt Coordination Ronny Hornig / Gravity Stunts Stunt advisor Joe Joedling / Stunt Factory Robotics Zoe Bassi Light design Anne Meeussen, Max Kraußmüller Video design Maya Čule Sound Technician Olivia Oyama Sound trainee Joschka Cruisus Stage assistance Christiane Hilmer Production management Sarah Parolin, Katharina Wallisch, Giulia Messia Tour management Moira L Sunter Garee Management, Distribution neon lobster / Giulia Messia and Katharina Wallisch
Production Florentina Holzinger/Spirit, neon lobster, Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater (Schwerin), Staatsoper Stuttgart Coproduction Wiener Festwochen | Free Republic of Vienna, Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Berlin) in Kooperation mit Komische Oper Berlin, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen (Antwerp), Julidans Amsterdam, Theater Rotterdam
The Production is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Municipal Department for Cultural Affairs of the City of Vienna. With support of the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport, Anna and Manfred Wakolbinger Research phase supported by Goethe-Institut Thanks to Caritia Abell, Sebastian Eckermann, Linnea Vogel
Premiere May 2024, Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater (Schwerin)
Wiener Festwochen 2021 Festzug
