The actress who stars in a controversial new opera as Jesus Christ has described the thrill she feels performing dangerous stunts and going on stage naked.
Annina Machaz plays an unconventional version of the Messiah, portrayed as a homeless drug addict, and takes on a supporting role as naked Adam in ‘Sancta’.
The nearly three-hour show about a repressed nun discovering her sexuality includes unsimulated lesbian sex scenes, sword swallowing, real blood, piercings and gruesome wounds inflicted live on stage.
The performance was so graphic that it left 18 spectators needing medical treatment for nausea and shock during the first two performances in the German city of Stuttgart.
Machaz is at the center of the chaotic show, presented by maverick Austrian choreographer Florentina Holzinger, who has also starred in the director’s stunning previous productions.
Topics include female sexual, physical and social oppression and a ‘dissection’ of Catholicism and organized religion.
Annina Machaz is the protagonist of the show, directed by Austrian choreographer Florentina Holzinger, and who has also starred in previous productions by the director.
Annina Machaz plays an unconventional version of the Messiah, characterized as a homeless drug addict
At one point, an actress playing Jesus whips a half-naked cleric.
Opera about a repressed nun who discovers her sexuality includes unsimulated sex scenes
“What I find exciting about theater is the possibility of transformation,” he told the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger last year.
The daring performer takes part in some of the show’s most risky stunts, at one point hanging high above the stage completely naked.
In a biblical reenactment, an actress playing Eve hands her an apple and approaches the actors below her in an allusion to Michelangelo’s The Creation of Man fresco.
In preparation for Holzinger’s extravagant shows, Machaz and his companions undergo rigorous stunt training.
She says the thrill she gets from performing risky tricks, which in one case led her to set herself on fire, is what theater is all about.
The scandalous show, which is loosely based on a 1921 opera that was canceled for being too blasphemous, has received serious backlash during its run this year.
It was met with outrage from Church figures in Austria when it was performed at the Vienna Festival in June, with one bishop saying the play went beyond the limits of artistic expression by “seriously offending religious feelings and convictions.” of believers.”
Sancta’s themes include female sexual, physical and social oppression and a “dissection” of Catholicism and religion, and Holzinger labels it “our own version of the Mass.”
At one point, an actress dressed as the Pope is lifted into the air and spun by a robotic arm.
In one scene, naked tattooed performers climb on a table, drink wine and sing, while another raises a crucifix-shaped sword and shoves it down their throat.
In one particularly irreligious scene, Machaz, dressed as Jesus, spanks the behind of a half-naked nun.
Aspects of the opera that have been called blasphemous by critics include the loincloth torn off of Christ on the cross and one of the actresses copulating with the statue.
At one point, half-naked roller-skating nuns surprise the audience by performing tricks on a half-pipe on stage.
In another strange scene, a woman Pope, played by an actress with dwarfism, is lifted into the air and spun around by a robotic arm.
And in one particularly disturbing sequence, bodies are hung on the wall to imitate Christ on the cross, before vats of fake blood begin to be poured over them.
Most surprising of all, one critic detailed the moment one of the actors suffers an injury live on stage.
The provocative show is based on an opera that critics called “blasphemous.”
There is nudity throughout the performance, which has an age restriction for attendees.
To illustrate the Eucharist, the body of Christ, a piece of meat is said to be cut from the artist’s side, which is then roasted over medium heat.
On the show’s website, the opera company warns attendees that the performance art is “not fake, but real” and recommends the show to viewers who “daringly seek new theatrical experiences.”
“Sometimes you can give people a little hope by taking them to another world,” Machaz said in an interview, given while he was on tour for another Holzinger play, in which he starred as Captain Hook.
The shocking performance includes nudity and ‘painful’ stunts.
Naked performers hang from the bells like clappers, with only their bare butts or heads visible.
Sancta’s remaining tickets in Stuttgart have been sold out amid huge international interest in the show.
Born and raised in Zurich before studying acting at the University of Bern, Machaz has won awards for her unconventional performances and directing roles.
‘I was raised believing that women can do anything. I have never felt at a disadvantage,” said Machaz, the daughter of a successful businesswoman.
She is described as a “disciplined” performer and told Swiss media that she enjoys spending time with her co-stars as part of Holzinger’s all-female ensemble.
“We are all friends and enjoy spending time together outside of performances and rehearsals,” he told Tagesanzeiger.
He added that the intensity of their work means they can’t face partying together after their shows and instead go for walks or relax together to save energy for the elaborate and extremely physical performances.
