Premiere: Innocence

MUSICAL THEATER

Theater am Goetheplatz

An opera in five acts by Kaija Saariaho
Original Finnish libretto by Sofi Oksanen
Multilingual libretto by Aleksi Barrière
With German and English surtitles
5:30 p.m. Introduction
Followed by a premiere celebration

It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life: Stela marries her fiancé Tuomas in a small, intimate ceremony. She doesn’t ask why there are so few guests—her carefree happiness is simply too great. But dark clouds from the past are gathering over the wedding party, and a storm of memories, guilt, and squandered responsibility is brewing. With archaic intensity, Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho tells the story of a trauma: Ten years earlier, there was a school shooting. The different life stories of those involved tragically and unintentionally intertwine to form a single fate. What remains of life after survival? Layer by layer, the web of guilt entangling all those involved is revealed. Marco Štorman, the new Artistic Director of Music Theater, takes on this psychological portrait in which the moral compass of all the characters goes haywire.

Supported by the Bremen Theater Friends.