The opera performance was first created in 1921.
This religiously themed orchestration will run until November 3, offering opera enthusiasts seven more opportunities to experience the unique performance.
There were scenes featuring live lesbian sex, a mix of real and fake blood, and a shocking portrayal of an oral act involving a crucifix sword. It was evidently overwhelming for those sitting closest to the stage.
This visual retelling led to 18 audience members requiring assistance during various parts of the performance.
According to the Daily Mail, attendees sought medical help after suffering from shock and nausea, resulting in a doctor being called to the scene.
Paul Hindemith, the composer, teamed up with radical performance artist Florentina Holzinger to create this intense experience, known as Sancta Susanna. It is undeniably a wild spectacle.
The adaptation featured an all-female cast portraying nuns who abandon their traditional roles for a performance that is described as ‘sensual, poetic, and wild.’
An actress with dwarfism dressed as a nun is swung around my a mechanical armYouTube/Staatsoper Stuttgart
Instead, they implied that the attendees should have been aware of what they were signing up for, and that the show’s content should not have come as a surprise.
The spokesperson told the Mail that the front-row audience members would have known “what they are letting themselves in for.”
One scene featured a nun pleasuring herself with a cross, while in another, a performer’s skin was removed and “grilled medium rare.” These scenes were likely too much for some viewers to handle.
Other moments included performers hanging from the rafters with their bare backsides exposed, and a depiction of Jesus spanking a roller-skating nun who was partially undressed.
Nuns narrate the whole thingYouTube/Staatsoper Stuttgart
There were also bodies displayed on the walls in a pose reminiscent of the crucifixion, and these figures were later drenched in fake blood as it was poured over them.
Before the show starts, the theater issues a trigger warning, cautioning the audience about the graphic nature of the performance. The warning suggests that some viewers may experience ‘discomfort’ or even be ‘traumatized’ by what they witness.
The show’s description highlights: “Some aspects of the evening may cause discomfort for certain individuals, and for others, they may even be retraumatizing. The focus of the evening is on spirituality and sexuality, but also on criticism of religion and a critical examination of religious and societal violence.”
