Florentina Holzinger's 'A Year Without Summer' Disappoints at Rising Festival
Florentina Holzinger's latest performance 'A Year Without Summer' premiered at Arts Centre Melbourne as part of Rising Festival, running until 31 May. The work invokes Mary Shelley's 1816 Villa Diodati ghost story, set against the volcanic winter from Mount Tambora's eruption. Despite promises of a queer, gothic musical romp critiquing female oppression, the two-hour-plus show (no interval) is deemed incoherent and overlong. Highlights include a golem-like glass figure birthed from Holzinger's torso, a bouncy castle-like giant birthing performers, a mass orgy, opera singers, aerial artists, and robot-dogs. Tanja Erhart delivers a powerful moment as Josef Mengele. However, the piece is criticized for underdeveloped ideas, excessive pornographic indulgence, and failing to honor Shelley's legacy. The review by Stephen A Russell for ArtsHub calls it a 'Tambora-level bust.'
Key facts
- Florentina Holzinger's 'A Year Without Summer' is a Rising Festival headliner at Arts Centre Melbourne.
- The show runs until 31 May.
- It references Mary Shelley's 1816 stay at Villa Diodati during the Year Without Summer caused by Mount Tambora's eruption.
- The performance includes nudity, simulated sex, bodily fluids, and robot-dogs.
- Tanja Erhart portrays Josef Mengele on crutches.
- The show is two hours and fifteen minutes without interval.
- Musical co-director is Born in Flamez.
- Reviewer Stephen A Russell calls it a 'frustrating scattering of a sketch show.'
Entities
Artists
- Florentina Holzinger
- Mary Shelley
- Xana Novais
- Annina Machaz
- Tanja Erhart
- Born in Flamez
- Stephen A Russell
Institutions
- Volksbühne Berlin
- Rising Festival
- Arts Centre Melbourne
- ArtsHub
- ScreenHub
Locations
- Berlin
- Germany
- Melbourne
- Australia
- Villa Diodati
- Mount Tambora
- Sumbawa
- Indonesia