{"id":34051,"date":"2026-01-03T00:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T23:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asphalt-festival.de\/en\/?post_type=events&p=34051"},"modified":"2026-04-23T00:07:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T22:07:02","slug":"a-year-without-summer","status":"publish","type":"events","link":"https:\/\/www.asphalt-festival.de\/en\/events\/2026\/a-year-without-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"A<\/em> Year witho<\/em>ut Su<\/em>mmer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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»There is no more sensual way to tell the story of the impending apocalypse« <\/span>
nachtkritik<\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Radical, energetic, uncompromising: Florentina Holzinger’s work is one of the most impressive in the current cultural landscape. Holzinger will represent her home country of Austria at the 2026 Venice Biennale, and from the 2026\/27 season onwards she will join the artistic management team at Berlin’s Volksbühne theatre. In her excessive stage spectacles, the Viennese choreographer liberates the female body from beauty norms and rigid gender roles, showing it in all its vulnerability and strength. The asphalt Festival has showcased Holzinger’s boundary-pushing works since the beginning of her career, and is now presenting her latest work as a co-production. »A Year without Summer« was invited to the 2026 Theatertreffen Berlin as one of the ten most remarkable productions of the season.<\/p>\n

Originally, 1816 went down in history as the »year without a summer«. After the eruption of the Tambora volcano in Indonesia, the sky is full of ash, the sun disappears, crops fail – and the world is starving. The 18-year-old Mary spends the cold summer months with other poets on Lake Geneva, where storms and darkness inspire them to tell horror stories. Mary imagines Dr Frankenstein, a scientific genius who forces nature to bend to his will and ends up destroying everything with his monster, assembled from corpses‘ parts.<\/p>\n

Florentina Holzinger and her ensemble explore stories about bodies, health and identities, our decay and our environment: the quest for immortality in the 21st century, medical promises of rejuvenation, and the dangers of uncontrolled technological growth in a world shaped by AI, robotics and bioengineering. »A Year without Summer« tells of the improvement of nature to the point of perversion and is an attempt to play off the promise of eternal life against certain death. Holzinger’s latest theatrical coup is a mixture of musical and horror story, a tightrope walk between absolute horror and great beauty with beguilingly quiet, gentle moments.<\/p>\n

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What the press says:<\/p>\n

»A fantastic, touching series of images« <\/span>
DER SPIEGEL
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»Funny, disgusting, graceful, blatant, kitschy, brutal, disturbing, unflinching, fragile, boastful and Austrian – the whole evening is all of these things at once and, at the same time, in love with itself in the most beautiful way, which is so difficult for many to achieve.«  <\/span>
Berliner Zeitung<\/span><\/p>\n

»Holzinger’s productions show naked bodies not only in a loving and empowering way, but also in a way that is more vulnerable and raw than anyone else‘s.«  <\/span>
rbb<\/span><\/p>\n

»After all her loud productions, it suits Florentina Holzinger extremely well that she is now embracing deceleration. Her company’s unprecedented diversity loses none of the empowerment of naked bodies or the blood-curdling sensuality of individual scenes. Rather, it stands out even more strongly.«  <\/span>
nachtkritik<\/span><\/p>\n

»As is so often the case with Florentina Holzinger, beauty and tenderness suddenly emerge from mud and revulsion.«  <\/span>
Theater heute<\/span><\/p>\n

»Sex orgy and shit inferno«  <\/span>
Der Freitag<\/span><\/p>\n

– – –<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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A production by Florentina Holzinger\/Spirit, neon lobster, Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Berlin. In co-production with Tanzquartier Vienna, International Summer Festival Kampnagel, Dansenhus Stockholm, DESINGEL Antwerp, Maska Ljubljana, asphalt Festival Düsseldorf, Rising Melbourne, Factory International Manchester, Divine Comedy International Theatre Festival \/ Łaźnia Nowa Theatre Kraków and Marvaða Iceland. Funded by the Capital Cultural Fund and the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna. With support from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport.
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with Achan Malonda, Andrea Baker, Annina Machaz, Bärbel Warneke, Beatrice Cordua, Bláthin Eckhardt, Born in Flamez, Gitti Ulm, Chris Kringel, Constanza Pérez de Lara Bonatti, Bear Boy, Fibi Eyewalker, Florentina Holzinger, Gibrana Cervantes, Liane Jil Apel, Luz de Luna Duran, MING, Netti Nüganen, otay:onii, Paige A. Flash, Renée Copraij, Renée Eigendorff, Saioa Alvarez Ruiz, Sahel van K, Sofia Borges, Sophie Duncan, Sue Shay, Xana Novais<\/p>\n

Direction, choreography and performance: Florentina Holzinger
Musical direction: Born in Flamez, Stefan Schneider
Composition: Born in Flamez, Stefan Schneider, Josephinex Ashley Hansis, Noah Reis Ramma, Gibrana Cervantes
Live music: Bláthin Eckhardt, Born in Flamez, Gibrana Cervantes, otay:onii, Sofia Borges, Stefan Schneider, MING, Paige A. Flash
Music production, mixing, & arrangements: Philipp Hülsenbeck
Sound design: Stefan Schneider, Olivia Oyama
Dramaturgy: Felix Ritter, Fernando Belfiore, Michele Rizzo, Sara Ostertag
Dramaturgy Volksbühne: Leonie Hahn
Assistant director: Xavier Perez
Assistant choreographer: Sophie Duncan
Stage: Nikola Knežević
Costumes: Christiane Hilmer
Technical direction: Emma Juliard, Stephan Werner
Stage technology, rigging: Dörte Wilforth
Stage technology: Jan Krueger, Uwe Sinkemat, Tine Madeleyn
Lighting design: Kevin Sock
Lighting: Anne Meeussen, Fabian Bleisch
Video design: Zoe Bassi, Max Heesen
Sound engineering: Olivia Oyama, Rozenn Lièvre
Sound assistant: Fjóla Gautadóttir
Stage assistant: Christiane Hilmer, with Angela Ribera, Paulina Jarosinska
Robotics: Boiling Head, Zoe Bassi with thanks to the Roboverse Community
Stunt coordinator: Ronny Hornig – Gravity Stunts
Coaching: Leon Le Nestour, Elisa Siegmund
Intimacy coaching: Jasko Fide
Intimacy coordination (Casting): Dani Brown and Frida Giulia Franceschini
Production management: Sarah Parolin, Katharina Wallisch
PR and communication: Giulia Messia
Tour management: Sarah Parolin, with Sarah Rindone
Management and international distribution: neon lobster \/ Katharina Wallisch & Giulia Messi<\/p>\n

neonlobster.org\/florentina-holzinger<\/a><\/p>\n

– – –<\/span>
Fotos: Nicole Marianna Wytyczak, Mayra Wallraff<\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":34184,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[400],"genre":[404],"location":[349],"event-category":[323],"class_list":["post-34051","events","type-events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-400","genre-theatre-2026","location-dhaus-grosses-haus","event-category-sommerfestival"],"yoast_head":"\nA Year without Summer - asphalt Festival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The latest production by theatre superstar Florentina Holzinger, co-produced by the asphalt Festival: a body horror musical about decay and immortality.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.asphalt-festival.de\/en\/events\/2026\/a-year-without-summer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Year without Summer - 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