DEADLY SERIOUS, TRANS(FORMATIVE) ENTERTAINMENT

Transplantation is a life-affirming variety show about identity and existence, inspired by a bone marrow transplant.

In 2019, Charlotte Engelkes underwent a bone marrow transplant. In order to save her life, her entire immune system had to be snuffed out. Gradually, she made room for the unknown donor’s life-giving stem cells, and she asked herself: Where do I end and the other person begin? 

From this experience, Transplantation took shape; it is a rich gesamtkunstwerk in which philosophical thoughts about Engelkes’ new Y-chromosome are pondered by the performance artist herself, along with choreographer and drag king artist Sofia Södergård.

Dance, stand-up, opera and comedy all come together to portray Charlotte’s rebirth as…well…as what? A man? What percentage of the body’s genetic material needs to be replaced for you to become a different person?

Transplantation is a celebration of life – a brutal reality accompanied by musical history’s greatest love story, Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde.

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CREDITS

Directed by, concept by: Charlotte Engelkes
Choreography: Sofia Södergård
On stage: Charlotte Engelkes, Sofia Södergård
Music, sound design: Willi Bopp
Music by Richard Wagner: Tristan and IsoldePrelude acts 1–3, recorded with the Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra
Conductor and arrangement: David Björkman
Video projections: Geska and Robert Breçevic´/ Performing Pictures
Light design, scenography: Karl Svensson
Costume design: Anna Ardelius
Photo: Mats Bäcker
Co-production: Norrlandsoperan, Dansens Hus
Scenography, props and costumes made in Norrlandsoperan’s studios and workshops.

An ASTARTE production in collaboration with Norrlandsoperan and Dansens Hus, with support from the Swedish Arts Council, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee and the City of Stockholm

Touring with Dancenet Sweden, autumn 2022
The tour will progress entirely by train for climate reasons.

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