Mauerschau | Bayerische Staatsoper
Eine Oper über Heinrich von Kleists “Penthesilea”
Münchner Opernfestspiele
Donnerstag, 30. Juni 2016
20.00 Uhr – 21.30 Uhr
Reithalle
Commissioned by the Bayerische Staatsoper, and composed by Hauke Berheide with libretto and mise-en-scène by Amy Stebbins, Luftwerk was invited to design the stage and video content for the re-imagining of Heinrich von Kleist’s Penthesilea—a drama from 1808—where war is raging, and no one can remember who is fighting whom or for what reason.
For Mauerschau, Luftwerk references the communication imagery of war through the abstraction of Morse code, graphic camouflage and distorted imagery; the video content erasing any certainty of distance while the mise-en-scène takes on sculptural constellations and choreographies within these tableaux. Projected upon multiple translucent screens, the stage-space seemingly expands infinitely into the distance. What viewer perception is barely grasped is at once immediately lost, and in Mauerschau, reality fragments and eventually shatters.
Reviews:
“A jewel of the Munich Oper Festival …. The massively applauded premiere of this in no way conceptually simple work had a lot to offer for both eye and ear. It is an encouragement to the Munich Opera, which path to follow in the present day.”