Austria
Award-winning opera stage director of new work and repertoire. Artistic Director of Civic Opera Creations (COCREATIONS), Vienna. Citizen Artist. Trained producer, cultural manager, and artistic director with experience at opera companies and as a freelancer in Europe, North America, and Australia. Next projects: - "European Kitchen Encounters: VR-BANIA", a new virtual reality music theater, in collaboration with composer Manuel Zwerger. Winner of the CROSS Award. Now touring to and through Switzerland, Austria and Italy. - Patricia Martínez "THE END OF THE WORLD", expanded augmented reality walk opera for augmented reality glasses. Co-produced with the SWR Experimentalstudio. - New opera on childloss and grieve, co-authored with composer Manuel Zwerger and librettist Carolyn Amann, for 35 musicians, 2 conductors, and four main roles, co-produced with Theater Münster, funded by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes, Fonds Experimentelles Musiktheater, a.o.
CIVIC OPERA CREATIONS (COCREATIONS) is a producer for new innovative music theater and opera created in dialogue and thought exchange between communities and artists. We expand the traditional opera space and its narratives in connection with new technologies and impulses from interdisciplinary scenes. Founded in Vienna in 2020, COCREATIONS builds bridges between traditional and new structures and creates new methods of cooperation and reference to establish opera as a representative part of the 21st century and a place for repeated encounters. Our 2022 season features the development of two new full-length, modular operas: GREAT OPEN EYES, a new opera by composer Manuel Zwerger, librettist Carolyn Amann and director Carmen C. Kruse, for 3 singers, 1 child, 2 conductors and 35 musicians, and THE END OF THE WORLD by composer Patricia Martínez, librettist Giuliana Kiersz, and director Carmen C. Kruse, an expanded augmented reality walk opera on new and hidden female perspectives. In addition, we celebrate and tour the world premiere of VR-BANIA, an intimate performance for virtual reality glasses on culture, identity, and cuisine of the Italian community Verbania in the 21st century, mixing live cooking, two performers, original interviews, and new composition techniques. March features the workshop presentation CREATIONS*3 of three new works in development and in May 2022, we present the evening-filling CIVIC NEWSROOM, a collaborative 48h micro-opera development project, showcasing and bringing together innovative artists from the continent in collaboration with unique locations and social partners. www.cocreations.eu
Staging of a new production of Rossini's Mose in Egitto connected to a search for a more just world in the city of Gießen. "Multimedia elements such as interviews with citizens of Giessen and video material are innovative and support the importance of the story for our time. They show a deep understanding of the subject matter by director Carmen C. Kruse. (...) The acting, music and vocal performance made the evening an impressive experience that also resonated in the hearts of the audience. The premiere was celebrated with enthusiastic response." - Alla Perchikova, IOCO "The way in which Stadttheater Gießen repeatedly approaches important topics is incredibly enjoyable - and the music, stage design and acting lead to a cultural sensation." - Markus Eggert, Literaturlounge “Power and finesse come into their own in equal measure.” - Judith von Sternburg, Frankfurter Rundschau
Stage direction of the world premiere of DIE JUDITH VON SHIMODA, based on a text by Berthold Brecht. Coproduction between Bregenzer Festspiele and Neue Oper Wien. World premiere at Werkstattbühne, Bregenzer Festspiele, on August 17, 2023. 2nd run at Theater Akzent on November 2,4,7&9, 2023, in Vienna. “Carmen C. Kruse manages to bring the captivating world of Okichi to life with impressive skill. Her intelligent approach allows you to immerse yourself deeply in the plot and you feel an extraordinary connection with the main character, who is portrayed so captivatingly.” - Andreas Marte, Vorarlberger Nachrichten “The combination of an ostentatious storyline and complex composition results in fresh new musical theater that rehabilitates "Die Judith von Shimoda". The audience at the premiere celebrated the production with a lot of applause.” — Christa Dietrich, Salzburger Nachrichten/APA "Carmen C. Kruse staged the play with a lucky hand." — Anna Mika, Krone Zeitung "A very successful installation, which in many scenes impressively underlines the fragility of the female psyche portrayed. (...) Carmen C. Kruse knows how to convince in her production with precise character direction, clearly places a female perspective at the center and allows the men to shine neither nobly nor brightly." — Susanne Dressler, Theater der Zeit