Schwester
28.02.2026/02.03.2026/03.03.2026

HochX Theatre and Live Art, Munich

Sister (Schwester) is a music theatre project by Lulu Obermayer exploring women's monasteries as one of Europe's oldest spaces of women's authorship. Behind the walls of the cloister, generations of women developed a distinct culture of writing, composition and communal life. Separated from the outside world, they created forms of knowledge, spirituality, care and autonomy that offered an alternative to marriage and family obligations.

Drawing on Giacomo Puccini's Suor Angelica and Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, the performance brings together the Liturgy of the Hours, liturgical chant, opera and electronic music by Pantha Du Prince. Every spoken text is drawn from the writings of nuns across the centuries. Visions, letters, autobiographical writings and monastic rules form the textual foundation of the performance.

The project grew out of Obermayer's long-standing engagement with monastic life. Having attended a convent school and spent extended periods living in women's monasteries, she developed the work through conversations and exchanges with religious sisters, particularly the Cistercian community of Kloster Mariazell in Wurmsbach.

The performance begins with Compline, the final prayer of the monastic day, and unfolds according to the temporal and spatial order of the convent. A handwoven net of elastic cords translates the cloister into theatrical space, dividing the stage into two worlds. Dressed in black bodysuits, the stagehands appear simultaneously as nuns, theatre workers and a choreographic chorus. Through repetitive gestures they construct, transform and organize the stage, reflecting the shared labour of convent and theatre alike.

Towards the end of the performance, monumental inflatable hands slowly fill with air. The director and performer places herself inside them. They evoke both the hands of the sisters—praying and working—and the hands of God, to whom the community entrusts itself in the closing words of Compline: "Into your hands I commend my life."

Schwester
28.02.2026/02.03.2026/03.03.2026

HochX Theatre and Live Art, Munich

Sister (Schwester) is a music theatre project by Lulu Obermayer exploring women's monasteries as one of Europe's oldest spaces of women's authorship. Behind the walls of the cloister, generations of women developed a distinct culture of writing, composition and communal life. Separated from the outside world, they created forms of knowledge, spirituality, care and autonomy that offered an alternative to marriage and family obligations.

Drawing on Giacomo Puccini's Suor Angelica and Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, the performance brings together the Liturgy of the Hours, liturgical chant, opera and electronic music by Pantha Du Prince. Every spoken text is drawn from the writings of nuns across the centuries. Visions, letters, autobiographical writings and monastic rules form the textual foundation of the performance.

The project grew out of Obermayer's long-standing engagement with monastic life. Having attended a convent school and spent extended periods living in women's monasteries, she developed the work through conversations and exchanges with religious sisters, particularly the Cistercian community of Kloster Mariazell in Wurmsbach.

The performance begins with Compline, the final prayer of the monastic day, and unfolds according to the temporal and spatial order of the convent. A handwoven net of elastic cords translates the cloister into theatrical space, dividing the stage into two worlds. Dressed in black bodysuits, the stagehands appear simultaneously as nuns, theatre workers and a choreographic chorus. Through repetitive gestures they construct, transform and organize the stage, reflecting the shared labour of convent and theatre alike.

Towards the end of the performance, monumental inflatable hands slowly fill with air. The director and performer places herself inside them. They evoke both the hands of the sisters—praying and working—and the hands of God, to whom the community entrusts itself in the closing words of Compline: "Into your hands I commend my life."

Concept, Artistic Direction and Performance: Lulu Obermayer
Musical Direction: Hendrik Weber (Pantha Du Prince)
Lighting Design and Technical Direction: Michele Piazzi
Costumes and Hair/Makeup: Marlena Fink
Set Design: Benjamin Röder
Outside Eye: Bastian Zimmermann
Artistic Assistance: Patrycja Masłowska
Complet-Arrangement and Organ: Roman Lemberg
Stage Hands: Renee Barbara Kuleš, Kristina Isabella Trněný, Fanny De Ponti, Randon Rosenbohm, Aiden Doriguzzi Breatta
Video-Edit: Aiden Doriguzzi Breatta
Program Design: ella hebendanz
PR: Kathrin Schäfer