After more than 10 years of experience in the theater as a costume designer, set designer, video maker and photographer, Mario Leko is creating his own work Here she lies, sir for the first time.  

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With Here she lies, sir Mario Leko gets to work with the image of being a woman and opts for a theme that is compellingly topical in these times of #metoo, but also because of the ever-growing diversity of cultural backgrounds. 
 
The starting point for this project are Ophelia, Lady Macbeth and Thaisa; three female Shakespearean characters who at first glance have little to do with each other, except that they don't speak much and all three die.  Leko is fascinated by the fact that these figures are rooted in a time when women were not even allowed to enter the theater and where women's roles were played by men. With Here she lies, sir he wants to explore what remains of this today. 
 
In his search for answers, he is assisted by three intriguing performers: Darya Gantura as Ophelia, Marie de Corte as Lady Macbeth and Juriji des Klee as Thaisa. Leko asks how these performers are defined by their performative bodies. To what extent does this influence what we experience as an audience? And what influence does this interaction between the gaze and the subject have on the meaning that arises? 
 
In addition, Leko investigates the way in which meanings are represented through images. For this he starts from the painting of Ophelia by the British painter Sir John Everett Millais. This remains to this day one of the most memorable representations of the woman as a victim. What does this still mean today?