Levitikus by Freie Oper Zurich2025
A voice-over narrates Genesis and Exodus, the first two books of the Bible. A lot has already happened: the Flood and the flight from the Promised Land. We jump straight into Season 3: Leviticus. A code of conduct is needed. Whether in the desert 2,500 years ago or today at Rote Fabrik in Zurich, the question remains the same.
Drawing on the 27 chapters of Leviticus in the Bible in Basic English, we condense its central instructions and laws into pop lyrics. We bring these archaic texts directly into the present, revisiting deeply ingrained principles of human rights (“you shall not kill”) alongside ideas of justice that, unfortunately, remain as relevant as ever (“an eye for an eye”).
With Levitikus, Freie Oper Zürich presents a new project that explores instructions, values, rules, and laws, placing at the heart of the opera a mechanism that can be observed across many areas of our society. Rules may appear objective and universally applicable, yet they are constantly subject to negotiation and reshaping.
Freie Oper Zürich deliberately works through a collective process involving instrumentalists, singers, and other artistic collaborators. With its promise of an “opera” that is bold and free, the company takes an unconventional position within Switzerland’s contemporary music theatre landscape. Following l’homme qui rit (2013) and Orpheus (2018), Levitikus is the company’s third project. Performances at Fabriktheater Rote Fabrik, Zurich, Tojo Theater Bern
