k 2025

Trans Voicing and the Illegible Seductions of Operatic Backstage

KRAMÁR, Richie Lux

Basic information

Original name

Trans Voicing and the Illegible Seductions of Operatic Backstage

Edition

The Culture of Attractions: Past and Present, International Conference organized by the Research Group "Performance Studies and Drama Translation", Toruň, Polsko, 2025

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Presentations at conferences

Field of Study

60400 6.4 Arts

Country of publisher

Poland

Confidentiality degree

is not subject to a state or trade secret

References:

Marked to be transferred to RIV

Yes

Organization unit

Theatre Faculty

Keywords in English

Artistic research; opera prompter; trans* voicing; media archaeology; performance studies; operatic backstage; queer aesthetics; cultural techniques; resonance; attraction

Tags

International impact
Changed: 20/3/2026 14:01, Mgr. Jana Kořínková, Ph.D.

Abstract

In the original language

This contribution investigates the operatic prompter’s voice as a unique site of sonic and performative attraction, existing at the intersection of presence and absence. Drawing on artistic research grounded in trans* embodiment and operatic labour, the paper frames prompting as a "technology of voice" that functions between discretion and spectacle. The author examines the prompter’s "minor, ghosted performance" through a queer lens, utilizing perspectives from media archaeology and performance studies to echo early traditions of stage illusion and sonic trickery. The research explores the backstage as a charged zone where seduction, support, monstrosity, and care coexist. By analyzing the affective textures of operatic prompting, the text proposes a rethinking of the trans* voice as an "ever-shifting site of becoming" that is persistently off-script. Ultimately, the prompter is framed as a "figure of attraction"—technological, queer, and monstrous—offering a new model for understanding voice as a resonant interface and prompting as a cultural technique of transition.