Xerxes Berlin

On his military campaign abroad an eccentric king is more concerned with conquering women than land He always gets his way until one day he falls for his brothers secret lover Xerxes tactics which he changes as often as his opulent costumes allow his opponents little time to rest This results in a baroque Muppet Show as the celebrated Norwegian director Stefan Herheim describes his spectacular stage production After a bewildering series of games of love and intrigue Handels opera ends with the insight that life is a theatre in which one cannot always choose ones own role