When the beach lies beneath the pavement, as the ‘68ers’ 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 she destroys. Cruise ships, superyachts, that sort of thing. Not just in the sea, but also on land. And so she takes up an offer and sells one of her fins for 24 hours of human form. Der rote Wal (The Red Whale) is a fairy tale that approaches a Stuttgart material 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 and also about what was and what is true.

The Red Whale

Stuttgart Opera

“A house is the third skin, after the skin of flesh and clothing”
German history rages in a house in Brandenburg: Jenny Erpenbeck conjures up 15 people and fates that populate this house over a period of 100 years, accumulating, intersecting, reflecting, intersecting, and refracting within it. From the German Empire through the Weimar Republic, National Socialism, the GDR, and the post-reunification period, a panorama of German realities and the violence inherent in every system and every era unfolds. The house's residents are both perpetrators and victims of this violence, thrown into the shadow of time, and their very existence testifies to the fact that political and social change is based on repression and occupation.

Visitation

Staatstheater Hannover

When the beach lies beneath the pavement, as it was often said in the past, it is 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 break what she breaks. Cruise ships, superyachts, that sort of thing. On her quest for revenge, she meets Lone, who promises her human form for 24 hours and demands one of her fins as a reward. On the pavement, she meets Abad and Ge, an urban guerrilla, schoolchildren on a museum visit to Stammheim. Gladis gets caught between the fronts and questions arise: Does the end justify the means? What remains when every truth is distorted? And if you can't fight violence peacefully, is militancy the last resort left to us all? But or because this is a fairy tale, the kiss of true love can free Gladis from everything in between.

Ketan Bhatti

Events

Upcoming events

Dec 17, 2025 - Jan 22, 2026

The Red Whale · Staatsoper Stuttgart

Past events

Dec 17, 2025 - Jan 22, 2026

The Red Whale · Staatsoper Stuttgart

Oct 10 - Nov 28, 2025

Visitation · Staatstheater Hannover

About

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