The Jellyfish of Death, or Whoever Whispers Is a Liar

How can one transcend the cruelty and indifference of tyranny when one’s only options are obscenity or death? The musical theatre collective HAUEN UND STECHEN explores the utopian potential of two operas which address the hopelessness of violence and stifling norms: Puccini’s Turandot and Beethoven’s Fidelio. At the centre of both stories are complex female characters: the one – Turandot – drives tyranny, and the other – Leonore – fights it, the first wants to change the world, the second is forced to.

In cooperation with the Sophiensælen, the collective is developing three performances for each opera which will be combined and expanded at the end into two major theatre performances. Each study takes an experimental and cross-genre approach to various thematic complexes – the structure of mystery, the matrix of seduction, the heterotopy of prison as a space which reflects the norms of societies in a unique way. The music of both librettos extends beyond the narrative and possesses hidden possibilities of unimagined freedom.