MUNICH, Germany — A night at the opera conjures images of elegant outfits and spectacular vocals.
But at one German opera house, 18 audience members required medical treatment after watching recent performances featuring explicit lesbian sex scenes, piercing, and lots of blood.
The opera, Sancta, premiered at the Mecklenburg state theatre in Schwerin in May.
It was based on the controversial 1920s opera Sancta Susanna, whose story follows a nun facing her repressed desires.
The new version of Sancta, directed by Austrian choreographer Florentina Holzinger, shows naked nuns roller-skating on a half-pipe and a wall of crucified unclothed bodies.
Persons:
Sebastian Ebling, Sancta, Sancta Susanna, Florentina Holzinger
Organizations:
Stuttgart State Opera, NBC News
Locations:
MUNICH, Germany, Mecklenburg, Schwerin, Austrian