Something Terrible Will Happen: The Cannibal Woman

Something has spiralled out of control. Beneath the surface of a rationalised, exhausted society, emotions for which there is no longer any space are building up: fear, grief, longing – and anger. But who, anyway, has the right to be angry?

Female bodies have always been at the centre of social projections, control and appropriation. They are consumed, judged, regulated and desired – sexually, emotionally, reproductively, visually and, increasingly, digitally. At the same time, there is a deep-rooted fear of angry women. Female anger is seen as hysterical, irrational, dangerous.

With “Something Terrible Will Happen: The Cannibal Woman”, the Berlin artist Sophia Süßmilch is developing her first production at a theatre at HAU – a performance about female anger and repressed emotions.

At its heart is the cannibal, who radically reverses the familiar dynamic: she is no longer the object of consumption, but becomes the consuming subject herself.Through an interdisciplinary interplay of dance, drama and music, a visually striking world emerges, blending horror, the grotesque, clowns’ aesthetics and musical excess.

“Something Terrible Will Happen: The Cannibal Woman” explores experienced violence, tamed bodies and the questions: Where does the anger go? What happens when it strikes back?