Type: Performance art, Satirical, Feminist, Queer
If You Like: Extreme Performance Art
Walking into the Arts Centre, I had already known that Florentina Holzinger’s prior work had caused some controversy in Europe, (and perhaps it was that infamy which managed to sell out opening night). I wasn’t entirely sure why; I knew the ensemble typically performed nude, but that didn’t seem particularly frightening.
Cue: live piercings, sex, nazis, flesh wounds, and a stage filled with shit.
A Year Without Summer starts by introducing the framing of the year 1816 when Indonesia’s Mount Tambora erupted, covering the sky in ash and blocking the sun. Crops failed and people died, but in that time Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. Springboarding off the novel’s themes and making art during dark times, the show focuses on youth, aging, medical institutions and misogyny.
It’s a show that defies all boxes and therefore is put into the vague “performance art” category. There’s dance, there’s acrobatics, there’s musical parodies. But all aspects are done with the upmost skill and precision. The music is a standout, often played live by the ensemble and equating to the level of a rock concert. The parody of “Dentist!” from Little Shop of Horrors doesn’t go amiss either.
The show transforms how we relate to a woman’s body through examining and exposing age, disability, race, and its abject nature. It’s difficult to explain the joy I felt watching such a range of different body types perform with abandon, leaning into their disgusting and mesmerising abilities. The body is played with to extremes to comment on the ridiculousness of discussions of women’s bodies. I was also relieved to see that regardless of the ensemble being nude and literally starting the show with a mass orgy, that it isn’t made to be palatable to straight men. I watched male audience members squirm and frown, looking tempted to leave their seats as the rest of us were entranced. Women’s bodies aren’t meant to be a site of grossness, so its flaunting is glorious to watch.
Though a lot of the show is shocking and sometimes downright horrifying, moments of beauty are still found. They aren’t quickly skipped past either, the ensemble takes their time to breathe in the tranquillity and vulnerability. The older half of the ensemble approaches the younger who have just all collapsed in order to help dress them, maternally holding their hands as they slip feet into shoes, other scenes see them sit together across hospital beds like a sleepover, trading stories of their inadequate medical care.
The entire ensemble is to die for. There are no weak links, and everyone has brought their specialisations to the table. With such a large ensemble of around 30, each member still gets a moment to shine – whether given a moment of song or just cheekily smiling at the audience as they’re handing out protective ponchos.
As the house lights rose, I waited as hundreds audience members filed out, leaving me and couple stragglers to watch a performer ice skate by herself. She’d fall and get up again, not bowing like the rest of her ensemble had. We all watched, waiting to see if she would ever acknowledge us as we were lulled by her dance.
I doubt I will ever see a show like this again, much to my despair, unless we’re lucky enough for Holzinger to bless us with another touring production. A Year Without Summer is not for everyone; I don’t think it’s for most people, but it certainly was for me.
Art is bound to be created in dark times, Holzinger reminds us. So what will you create?
See our other reviews from the Rising Festival in the link below
Tickets and Practical Info for A Year Without Summer at Rising Festival 🎟️
VENUE: Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne
SEASON: 28 May – 31 May 2026
DURATION: 2 hours 15 mins, no interval
RATING: 16+
TICKETS: https://2026.rising.melbourne/program/a-year-without-summer
