Queere Tiere

Queere Tiere (queer animals) is a music theater play. The two Zurich-based artists Daniel Hellmann and Coco Schwarz present themselves on stage in their artistic personas Soya the Cow and Piano Prince. Together, they joyfully, humorously, and sensually recount surprising stories and songs about the diversity of sexualities, forms of love, and life in the animal world. Drawing from their personal perspective as queer human animals, the artists interweave stories of real queer animals and animals from myths and fairy tales. The theme of transformation serves as inspiration and a leitmotif here—both in terms of music and text.

Set against a simple backdrop, consisting of an electric piano, a wheel of fortune, and two richly costumed mythical hybrid creatures, the audience is immersed in a fascinating world where gay sheep, lesbian albatrosses, hermaphrodite snails, wolves disguised as grandmothers, and transgender clownfish coexist. The result is a complex image of a nature liberated from heteronormative constraints of interpretation and transmission, making visible and celebrating life in its richly diverse forms of existence.