Children of Sodomy

The history of sodomy is not a linear narrative, but rather a labyrinth of attributions that became entrenched in power structures over the centuries. Originally emerging as a moral concept from Christian writings of the 2nd–5th centuries CE, sodomy became, in the 12th century, a catch-all term for everything considered “unnatural”—from masturbation to anal sex, from witch hunts to queer existence. The performance Children of Sodomy by Emma Lusena-Ash and Itchi Fleischer explores this tension: between historical violence and contemporary resistance.

The title itself is a paradox, for sodomy produces no offspring. Yet this is precisely where the subversive power of the work lies: it celebrates the survival of the “sodomites” as a form of collective resistance. Through choreographic references to the medieval bridle and a prophetic monologue in the style of delirium a narrative unfolds that navigates the tension between oppression and liberation. The performers, bound by their braids, embody the struggle for autonomy—a struggle that continues to this day in queer and feminist spaces.

The performance takes place in English.