Published9. October 2024, 7:07 p.m
Stuttgart: Opera goers collapse over blood and sex scenes
The Stuttgart State Opera must have suspected it a little: it gave the opera performance “Sancta” an age rating of 18 and over and clear warnings. Rightly so, as it turns out.
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Florentina Holzinger’s “Sancta” will be performed at the Stuttgart State Opera.
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At the first two performances, a total of 18 audience members had to be treated for nausea and shock.
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The performance is for ages 18 and up, and the opera warns against explicit sexual scenes and real blood.
Despite an age rating of 18 and over and bold warnings, a current revealing and bloody opera performance in Stuttgart is leaving its mark on more sensitive visitors.
During the first two performances of Florentina Holzinger’s “Sancta”, the visitor service looked after a total of 18 people, some of whom complained of nausea, said State Opera spokesman Sebastian Ebling. In three cases a doctor had to be called in.
Holzinger’s productions cause a stir
Holzinger has been causing a stir in the theater world for years with her works, in which she radically and freely stages female bodies, incorporates painful stunts and doesn’t shy away from trash. In “Sancta” she brings lesbian love scenes to the stage with provocative clarity, ridicules Christian rituals and denounces the sexual oppression of women.
The State Opera also informs that spirituality, sexuality, but also criticism of religion and a critical view of religious and social violence are the focus of the performances. “Exploring boundaries and crossing them with pleasure has always been a central task of art,” the opera quotes its artistic director Viktor Schoner as saying.
The trailer for “Sancta”
Youtube
Opera House expressly warns
The house also expressly warns on its homepage that the performance by the scandal-ridden Austrian performance artist shows explicit sexual acts as well as depictions and descriptions of sexual violence. Real blood as well as fake blood, piercings and a wound can also be seen. Strobe effects, volume and incense would also be used.
The opera recommends the performance to audiences who are “daringly looking for new theater experiences,” as it says on the homepage. However, in addition to the use of some theatrical means, performance art is “not fake, but real,” said Ebling. In the case of the sexual violence shown in “Sancta”, the house explicitly warns against retraumatization.
The organizers warn about the content on the website.
Stuttgart State Theater
This is what the State Opera says about it
According to opera spokesman Ebling, nothing will be changed with regard to the five “Sancta” evenings still planned. Nausea and fainting also occur again and again, he said. The premiere was acclaimed. He is convinced that there were essentially people in the rows of visitors “who knew what they were getting into.”
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