Hetero/Homo/ Trans-Sexualities : Diffractive Readings of a Queer Production of Otto Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor

Abstract This article explores how a queer production of Otto Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor generates a variety of meanings about gender and sexuality, troubling the opera’s conventional cis- and heteronormative narrative and themes. Specifically, it examines the fluid relationships between the production’s materials, activities, and ideas that constantly evoke new meanings. To aid this endeavour, the author adopts Gilles Deleuze’s conception of the possible and the virtual and his understanding of sexualities. Consequently, elusive genders and sexualities emerge alongside normative and recognizable non-conforming ones. The article thus underscores how queer initiatives are pushing operatic genders and sexualities beyond their conventional forms.