MUSIC THEATRE

Der rote Wal (The Red Whale)

Texts: Markus Winter based on a story by Markus Winter and Martin G. Berger
Music: Vivan and Ketan Bhatti

When the beach lies beneath the pavement, as the ’68 generation liked to say, it's not far to the sea. Gladis, the protagonist of this opera, follows the opposite direction, from the sea to the pavement. Gladis is an orca. And she wants to destroy what destroys her. Cruise ships, superyachts, these sorts of things. Not just in the sea, but also on land. So she accepts an offer and sells one of her fins for 24 hours in human form. Der rote Wal (The Red Whale) is a fairy tale that draws on a Stuttgart-based story that is charged like a myth. A “German autumn fairy tale“ about the myth of the RAF, about the question of what resistance is allowed to do and also about what was and what is true.

World premiere: June 18, 2025 Staatsoper Stuttgart