– a show about the right to love whoever you want to
Thu 27.6.2019, 20:00–21:30, @ALMS Conference, Haus der Kulturen der Welt
Livingstones Kabinet presents a unique performance of the music-theatre show The Einstein of Sex, a hit with both critics and audiences. This show celebrates the 100th anniversary of ‘The Institute for Sex Research’ in Berlin, and is performed at Haus der Kultur der Welten, the original site where the Institute stood prior to its being ransacked by the Nazis.
The Einstein of Sex is a doco-music-theatre piece about the history of homosexuality over the last one hundred years. It celebrates the diversity of sexual orientation with a challenging, imaginative and blackly funny genre-hopping production. The Einstein of Sex takes as its starting point a group of ‘free thinkers’ in Germany towards the end of the 1800s, who fought for sexual freedom and homosexual rights.
In The Einstein of Sex we find ourselves in the The Institute for Sex Research in Berlin, the historical location of the world’s first attempt to systematically combat the repression of homosexuals. As early as 1887, its founder Magnus Hirschfeld [1868–1935] was actively campaigning to repeal the anti-homosexual penal code and to inform the public about ‘the nature of man-to-man love’. From a historical perspective the show takes a look at how things stand today and how far we have come in the battle for the right to sexual diversity and freedom. We meet Hirschfeld himself, a German/Jewish sex researcher and writer, who was described in the press of the time as ‘der Einstein des Sex’. Hirschfeld was a very active and renowned public speaker both in Germany and internationally. His thinking and opinions were a challenge to the contemporary view of sexual minorities. The Nazi book-burnings resulted in Hirschfeld’s library being reduced to ashes and his institute was ransacked and destroyed. Hirschfeld was forced into exile and died in France in 1935. Today Magnus Hirschfeld is revered as the founding father in the fight for LGBT rights. The Einstein of Sex draws parallels with our world today, holding our contemporary prejudices up to comparison with a liberalism of earlier times.
Livingstones Kabinet’s shows are characterised by a musical, playful lightness of touch in the treatment of very different stories and ideas. The Einstein of Sex combines documentary material with a broad range of genres in a provocative, modern and image-rich show which connects Weimar Germany to today. The concept and idea for The Einstein of Sex was developed in close collaboration with writer, activist and prolific lyricist Sven Omann [Wanda Liszt] together with Bent Jacobsen, member of Schwanzen Sänger Knaben and politically-active figure in the gay scene in Denmark since the 1970s.
Onstage Pete Livingstone, Nina Kareis, Amia Miang, Bent Jacobsen, Ole Håndsbæk Christensen, Brian Grønbæk and Molly Kareis Livingstone
Script Kareis and Livingstone
Director Nina Kareis
Music Pete Livingstone
Thu 27.6.2019, 20:00–21:30, Haus der Kulturen der Welt
Single event tickets for the theatre play ‘The Einstein of Sex’ will be available on the night and can be paid for in cash (10/5 Euro) at the door.