Ritual scarification, roller-skating nuns, cannibalism and real sex onstage are not generally among the things you expect to see when you go to the opera . But they’re exactly what the audience are here for as they file in to Stuttgart Opera’s latest and most controversial production: Sancta . Originally composed by Paul Hindemith in 1921 and now adapted by director and choreographer Florentina Holzinger, Sancta ’s graphic depictions of sex and ritual violence allegedly led 18 people to require medical attention in its opening weekend earlier this month.
Naturally, this news caused the rest of the run to sell out immediately. I’d been keeping an eye on this production for a while. The German Expressionist movement in all its uncanny splendour and challenging aesthetics has, for the last few years, grabbed my interest and not let go.
Holzinger is a fascinating artist who is not afraid to challenge performance conventions and limitations in her work, blurring the boundaries of genre and form, and often examining taboos such as nudity . So when I heard she was taking on Hindemith’s Expressionist opera about a nun exploring her sexual desires – an opera so controversial that it has not been performed at full scale since its debut a century ago – I knew that I had to get my hands on a ticket and arrange a trip to Germany right away. And I’m glad I did: the next day, it was opening night in Stuttgart.
The day after that, Sacnta went viral, and then sold out complete.
