Schwarzes Licht

 

Interdisciplinary opera performance by Bahzad Sulaiman and Juta Pranulytė

World premiere was October 24, 2025.
Performed by Ensemble Modern
Duration: approx. 24 min.
In German language
Frankfurt LAB, Germany.

Foreignness as a state that does not resolve itself—and forces restlessness.
What must be left behind in order to belong? How can one endure the silence that spreads in the infinite gap between departure and arrival?

Bodies react to attributions, adapt, shape themselves—and are shaped. In the search for belonging, often all that remains is the knowledge of others who have experienced similar things.

Schwarzes Licht (Black Light) is a music theater installation that examines the physical experience of those who have set out on a journey – in search of a new beginning. The piece is based on interviews with people who have left a place or a country at different times and ask themselves what home can mean.

From these biographical fragments emerges a central character who does not give up her unconditional longing for a place in society. On her journey, she repeatedly encounters her inner voices—represented as a choir. Sometimes they urge her to turn back, then again to keep going. This polyphony creates a productive ambiguity that repeatedly throws the main character back on herself.

Bahzad Sulaiman’s interest in performative theater is audible in Juta Pranulytė’s composition: voices and instruments are pushed to their limits, fragility is provoked—the inner process becomes musically tangible.

The artistic team at Schwarzes Licht agreed early on to bring real, unadulterated voices to the stage. This creates a field of tension that does justice to the individual stories of the interviewees – while remaining open to the experiences of the audience.

Text: Flavia Wolfgramm and Marlene Schleicher

 

Cast & Artistic Team

Composition: Juta Pranulytė
libretto and director: Bahzad Sulaiman
Conductor: Mareike Jörling and Maximilian Leinekugel
Orchestrierung / Juta Pranulytė & Claudia Cañamero Ballestar
Set and costume design: Sophie Eidenberger and Thorben Schumüller
Dramaturgy: Flavia Wolfgramm and Marlene Schleicher
Video projection: Performer: Federico Moiana, Camera and editing: Colin Jacobs
Music: Ensemble Modern
WITH: Harald H. Hein (bass-baritone), Noemi Nikl (mezzo-soprano), Khrystyna Smulska (alto), Javier Blanco (bass).
Flute: Dietmar Wiesner, Clarinet: Dana Barak, Piano: Ueli Wiget, Trombone: Antonio Marin, Trumpet: Sava Stoianov, Percussion: David Haller, Violin: Jagdish Mistry, Viola: Laura Hovstedt, cello: Eva Böcker, Musical Coordination: Rainer Römer, Sound Engineering: Norbert Ommer, Sound Technician: Lukas Nowok.

 

© Deutsche Bank Stiftung _Jessica Schäfer

full film of the evening here: film

 

Production team

Production managers: Daniela Kiesewetter and Lisa Schmalz
Musical rehearsal director and musical assistant: Maria Conti Gallenti
Lighting design and technical manager: Philip Deblitz
Artistic and technical assistant and technical manager: Ralf Heinze
Makeup: Johanna Winkler
Audio recording: Felix Dreher
Film production: Seehund Media

Commissioned by Deutsche Bank Foundation / Akademie Musik Theater Heute