About the work
“Aqua Tofana” is a play by the dramatist Ivana Sokola, who received the Kleist Förderpreis in 2021 for “Kill Baby”. She developed the text in exchange with the director Jana Vetten and the ensemble, including a joint research week; her work on it was supported by the Deutscher Literaturfonds. The play premiered on 15 January 2025 as an in-house production of the Kosmos Theater in Vienna, directed by Jana Vetten with music by Katarina Maria Trenk.
Plot
Three angry FLINTA* people have withdrawn into a cave a hand’s breadth below the surface of the earth. There they want to recover from the exhausting struggle against patriarchy, from care work and endless debates, and simply rest for once. Yet they carry their experiences, their weariness and above all their rage with them underground, until it drives them back to the surface, where they find the old power structures barely changed. Choral speech, songs and individual stories alternate.
Cultural significance
The title refers to an arsenic-based poison produced in 17th-century Italy and used above all by wives to murder their husbands. The play asks why female anger was dismissed as hysteria for centuries and treats it as a transformative force. Viennese critics found the premiere visually striking and clear in its stance, though some missed dramatic action.