HOLSTEIN MILCHKÜHE

A woman who worked as an artificial insemination technician for cows before her wedding encounters a supernatural being – half-human, half-bovine – alongside her lapdog. This confrontation forces the self-proclaimed housewife to face her past: Driven by a sudden desire for motherhood, she not only ordered human sperm from an anonymous online bank but also impulsively injected it into a cow’s uterus. The supernatural being she now meets is, in a sense, her child.

This unexpected encounter shatters the safe harbor of her routinely dreadful marriage to an ordinary man. What unfolds is a gripping tale of delirious twists that expands the horizons of our imagination.

Japanese playwright and director Satoko Ichihara stands among the most vital voices of a new feminist generation in theater. Her play HOLSTEIN MILCHKÜHE – winner of the 2020 Kishida Kunio Drama Award (Japan’s highest theater honor) – offers a radical reinterpretation of Euripides’ ancient tragedy The Bacchae. Her groundbreaking work has gained international acclaim, featured at Vienna Festival, Festival d’Automne in Paris, and Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels.

For Zurich, Ichihara directs a completely reimagined version of her award-winning play with a brilliant artistic team, extensive music, a chorus, and the Schauspielhaus ensemble.