Eighteen theatregoers at Stuttgart’s state opera required medical treatment for severe nausea over the weekend after watching a performance that included live piercing, unsimulated sexual intercourse and copious amounts of fake and real blood. “Good technique in dance to me is not just someone who can do a perfect tendu, but also someone who can urinate on cue,” Holzinger told the Guardian in an interview earlier this year . Sancta, Holzinger’s first foray into opera, premiered at the Mecklenburg state theatre in Schwerin in May, and is based on Paul Hindemith’s 1920s expressionist opera Sancta Susanna, which has its own history of controversy. It was originally meant to premiere at Stuttgart’s state opera in 1921, but was not put on stage until 1922 after protests against its allegedly sacrilegious content. All five remaining shows at the Stuttgart state opera, as well as two performances at Berlin’s Volksbühne in November have since sold out.

Source: The Guardian October 10, 2024 20:16 UTC