The Priestess of Morphine

Sex, Drugs, and… Opera

Unwillingly addicted to morphine, Baroness Gertrud Günter von Puttkamer and her nom-de-plume Marie-Madeleine explore her sensuality and tumultuous story through the medium of contemporary opera.

“They tried to burn me, to bury my words. They tried. They tried, but they failed.”

Join Tenth Muse Initiative as they delve into the inner psyche of two sides of the same woman. Gertrud is the forensic observer of her own life whilst Marie-Madeleine is the unapologetic personification of her desire for women and morphine.

Discover the story of this Jewish German lesbian erotic poet, who when revealing her most intimate cravings and pleasures saw her declared a degenerate by the Third Reich which led to her mysterious death.

“This powerful and perceptive opera is the most comfortable way to explore the young woman’s suffocating trauma, by situating Marie-Madeleine’s work in the historical and artistic consciousness of the time with an eye towards healing.” – OperaWire

Show contains: Adult Themes, Sexual references, War references (WW2), Depictions of Drug use, Loud and sustained music

For more information on content warnings for this show, please read the Additional Show Information page here.

Image by Cole Currie

• Producer

  Hannah Lee Tungate (she/her)

• Director

  Rachel Doulton (she/her)

• Performer & Artistic Advisor

  Jessica Taylor (she/they)

• Projection Designer

  Blair Parkinson (he/him)

• Lighting Designer

  Katrina Johnston (she/her)

• Tech Operator

  Chloe Palliser (she/her)

• Administration Coordinator

  Isabella Cisse (she/her)

• Copywriter

  Bec Bowman (she/her)

• Graphic Designer

  Georgia Crowe (she/her)

• Performer

  Ava Charleson (she/her)

• Percussionist

  Thea Rossen (she/her)

• Violinist

  Julia Watson (she/her)

• Cellist

  Miranda Murray-Yong (they/them)

• Librettist

  Aiden K. Feltkamp (they/he)

• Composer

  Rossa Crean (they/them)

• Musical Director

  Laurissa Brooke (she/her)