Vienna
free admission
QUEER MUSEUM VIENNA, Otto Wagner Areal, C-Gebäude, Baumgartner Höhe 1, 1140 Wien
Susan Stryker’s Hot Tub is a campy, experimental performance situated within the context of Poets Theater that reimagines classical fairy tales and mythological narratives from a transfeminist perspective. In a queer, mythically heightened underworld, several characters embark on a search for “the source” - a metaphor for transformation, collective empowerment, and trans* sociality. Blending absurd humor with political urgency, the piece explores rage, care, and community as transformative practices. Developed together with trans poet Ari Banias, the work centers trans* joy, desire, and world-making, positioning trans* experience as magical, embodied, and socially transformative. At the same time, it critiques transphobia, gatekeeping, and normative gender logics. Aesthetically, the project celebrates DIY culture, embodied knowledge, and collective ritual as forms of artistic and social transformation. The production methodology combines close textual and discourse analysis — including fairy tales, mythology, My Words to Victor Frankenstein, and current anti-trans* legislation — with collaborative, improvisation-based performance work. The further development of the piece is planned as a two- to three-day working phase with local artists and cultural practitioners in Vienna. The process follows the principles of Poets Theater: collective knowledge production instead of hierarchical direction, openness to improvisation, and the visibility of spontaneity and collective authorship. The aim is to create a vibrant performance in which transformation can be experienced as a communal, present-tense process.
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