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Music theatre in German and English - premiere

Between silent film and chamber opera, the music theater ensemble VORTEX explores new narrative forms – breaking down the boundaries between animal and human.



A true fairytale takes place in the mid-19th century: The English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning is bedridden by illness. She can barely leave the bedroom of her London apartment for several years. Only her Cocker Spaniel, named Flush, keeps her company in her solitude. He witnesses firsthand how his mistress's pen pal relationship with the English poet Robert Browning slowly develops into a romance.

Suddenly, the dark bedroom no longer seems so bleak – and one day, the moment arrives: the lover himself appears in the doorway. The two marry overnight and, against the wishes of Elizabeth's father, secretly flee to Italy – the three of them, of course: Elizabeth, Robert, and Flush.


Inspired by Virginia Woolf's novel Flush, VORTEX continues its work about female artists with irgendwann am nachmittag (kein echo) – following previous projects on Maria Callas (Becoming Maria C., 2021) and French film director Alice Guy Blaché (APARTMENT XY, 2023), this time it focuses on the English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

The ensemble combines the autofictional story with current questions about society's treatment of those affected by long Covid or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).


(Music theatre in German and English)

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Additional information
The music theater ensemble VORTEX, led by director and writer Christoph Clausen and dramaturge and production manager Paula Häfele, specializes in creating miniature worlds that defy language, combining a densely atmospheric soundscape with detailed choreography.


Through slowed-down movement sequences and captivating soundtracks, a unique temporality emerges that questions the meaning of even the smallest object and every smallest gesture.
Participating artists
Christoph Clausen, Paula Häfele, Mathilde Vendramin, Haesoo Eshu Jung (Mit)
Dates
August 2025
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