Kuss der Spinnenfrau

In a prison in an authoritarian state, the two prisoners Molina and Valentin meet in a small cell. While Molina is serving time for homosexual acts, Valentin is serving a sentence as a member of a political underground organization that wants to bring down the dictatorial system. Molina talks incessantly, while Valentin prefers to read Marx in silence. Since Molina has been in prison, he has been dreaming himself into another world with the help of the legendary film diva Aurora: he recreates her old Hollywood films from memory. Valentin finds more and more pleasure in this. Both realize that they need each other in this hostile situation and that their respective dreams are more similar than they might seem at first glance.
Composer John Kander, known for hits such as Cabaret and Chicago, has turned Manuel Puig's novel into a captivating musical story about the power of the imagination: more topical than ever, it transports us into the utopian world of Aurora and into the emotional abysses and longings of two young people dreaming of a better world in a small cell with touching songs, rousing dance rhythms and brilliant choreography. Matthew Wild's production throws us back and forth between the inhospitality of a prison cell, fond memories and an opulent film world in poignant images.