Borrowed Light

On the 23 July, Borrowed Light, a classic of the Tero Saarinen Company is performed in Austria for the first time. Since its premiere in 2004, this piece has fascinated 50,000 people worldwide.

For Borrowed Light Saarinen found inspiration in the traditional songs and dances of the Shakers, a free church that was founded in the 18th century, known for its ecstatic Shaker dance and its strong work ethic. But the piece itself is more about universal topics such as community and devotion, than the Shaker movement itself.

Borrowed Light uses lighting as a powerful religious metaphor and plays with contrast: heavy felt materials meet light, transparent materials, while the lighting design congenially stages the change from mystical shadows to bright light.

Study for Life

Saarinen’s second piece, which is still in progress, also invites the audience to experience emotions and feelings with all senses. Study for life is an homage to the music of Kaija Saariaho, with whom Saarinen had a longtime musical friendship before her death. Altogether, the piece that was designed for unconventional performance spaces, draws on four pieces of the composer including the eponymous Study for Life, a miniature for soprano, electronics and lighting based on a section of T.S. Eliot’s famous poem The Hollow Men.

The musicians and dancers of the Tero Saarinen company move through the room to Saariaho’s emotional electro acoustic music turning the performance into a holistic theatrical experience.

Emily – No Prisoner Be

In mid-August, the Werkstattbühne becomes a home for poetry: In Emily – No Prisoner Be, Pulitzer-Prize winner and composer Kevin Puts looks at the literary creations of Emily Dickinson from a new perspective.

Almost 150 years after her death, Dickinson's poems are among the most valued in English literature. In her mysterious, sometimes provocative and humorous verses she talks about the search for identity and freedom and often questions faith and social norms.

On stage you can experience Oscar winner and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and Time for Three, a trio that defies all musical conventions. Together with director and lighting designer Marie Lambert-Le Bihan, in 24 songs they explore the unique cosmos of Dickinson, which is characterized by deeply felt emotions, existential questions and a special connection to nature.