Creation: May 16, 2026, Wiener Festwochen, Vienna
Composition: Brigitta Muntendorf
Stage Direction: Christiane Jatahy
Libretto: Rosa Montero
Musicians: 5 percussionists, voices, dance, plus 6 extras and audience
Duration: 60 minutes
On the last night before the outbreak of the great war, the celebrations are as if one could dance away the apocalypse. “The Day Before” plunges us into this shimmering eve of the apocalypse, where audience, performers, percussionists, and a chorus of young women unite in a shared destiny. Homer’s “Iliad,” the primal myth of warlike violence, serves as the blueprint for a frenzied celebration on the brink.
Composer Brigitta Muntendorf, director Christiane Jatahy, and author Rosa Montero put the ancient heroic epic of male-coded violence to the test, following the visionary interpretation of the French philosopher Simone Weil – can there be a future without all-powerful saviors? How can hope for healing and a better future be kept alive in the face of destruction?
Through the creative use of 3D audio, AI voice cloning, and live camera footage, voices, sounds, noises, movements, and images merge into an immersive experiential space that unfolds its own reality between fiction and reality. The looming danger generates a vibrant energy, a sense of political community that makes a different, better future seem possible. For “The Day Before” not only explores the premonition of catastrophe but is also a ritual for the future, reminding us that every change begins with a decision: It is up to us what will have been.