Theatre performance - The opera performance "Sancta" by Holzinger is honored in Schwerin.
While the Catholic community debates church reforms in Erfurt and battles the aftermath of concealed abuse scandals, these issues are being addressed on stage in Schwerin.
Bold, occasionally disturbing, yet incredibly captivating. Staged by performance artist Florentina Holzinger, renowned for her daring stage productions featuring mostly bare performers. Her newest piece "Sancta" created quite a fuss with its standing ovation and ecstatic atmosphere at the opening of the Mecklenburg State Theater Schwerin.
The 38-year-old Austrian Holzinger skillfully combines her opera debut with her well-known works like "Ophelia's Got Talent" in 2022 at the Berlin Volksbühne or "Dance" in 2019 in Vienna. Following four sold-out shows in Schwerin, the international coproduction "Sancta" will be viewed in the middle of June at the Vienna Festwochen, and subsequently in Stuttgart and Berlin.
Blend of liturgical hymns, pop music, and metal
The performance starts with Paul Hindemith's one-act opera "Sancta Susanna." This 20-minute opera about a young nun who, inspired by the murmurs of a couple outside the convent walls, eventually succumbs to the crucified Jesus figure, created controversies over a century ago. Due to severe blasphemy allegations and protests, the debut had to be shifted from Stuttgart to Frankfurt/Main.
However, while Hindemith leaves Susanna's sexual awakening to the audience's imagination, Holzinger provides a clearer picture: Two nude performers publicly indulge in their passion on stage, subsequently expelled by their fellow nuns because of Susanna's obsession.
The opera segues into a church service presented as a spectacle through a deafening cry of liberation for female lust. Performers enact to liturgical hymns from the Schwerin Theater Choir, such as Kyrie from Bach's H-Minor Mass, pop tunes like "It's Raining Men," heavy metal sounds, or specifically composed pieces.
Provocative blasphemy and demand for changes
Roller skaters freely roam a halfpipe sans clothing, while others destroy Michelangelo's famed fresco of God and Adam on a massive climbing wall. Christ manifests in the form of a bearded world-improver wearing sunglasses and a plush lamb by his side, embodying Holzinger's love for kitsch. The Holy Communion turns into a rave. A diminutive woman seamlessly transitions into the role of the Pope.
The Spirit of the Holy Spirit is portrayed as a personified witch, multiplying wine bottles and conjuring the rib for the creation of Eve. A human skin piece displayed before the audience is transformed into a sacred relic, soon becoming the Eucharist host. The parody of the biblical narrative, in which Christian rituals are challenged, the persistent male domination, and the sexual repression of women are all displayed as provocative blasphemy and a call for significant reforms in the church.
Holzinger: controversial, high-stunt choreographer with a fondness for trash
Long before the premiere of her opera adaptation in Schwerin, Holzinger had spoken out against discriminatory portrayals of women and ineffectual exposure of abusers. The conclusion remains the same; to seek change, to find the kingdom of heaven on earth. In the concluding scene, most of the 520 audience members and spectators stand and sing, "Don't dream it, be it" (Stop imagining it, make it happen) - a nod to the musical film "Rocky Horror Picture Show".
Through her works, wherein she carelessly exhibits fully nude female bodies on stage and incorporates unsettling stunts, Holzinger continues to create waves in the world of theater. The 1986-born choreographer has been associated with the Berliner Volksbühne since 2021, and was even considered a successor to the unexpected demise of intendant René Pollesch.
