Theater under the magnifying glass: New works and explosive topics in Vienna!

Theater under the magnifying glass: New works and explosive topics in Vienna!

Josefstadt, Österreich - Vienna is culturally alive as ever. The theater season 2025 already has a lot to offer, with fresh productions and remarkable pieces. Today it is all about the balance between success and failure on the stages of the city. In the past few months we have been able to enjoy new works by authors such as Turrini, Mitterer and Kehlmann, who have tied up the audience with their creative approaches.

The announcement by Nikolaus Habjan, who brings the grotesque comedy "Schicklgruber" from Berlin to Vienna, is particularly exciting. Andrea Breth, known for her impressive productions on renowned stages, is also devoted to the play "A German Life" by Christopher Hampton. This piece is based on the moving records by Brunhilde Pomsel, the personal secretary of Joseph Goebbels. Lore Stefanek initiated this collaboration with Breth, and Föttinger already describes the first construction sample as an exciting event, the result of which promises a polyphonic staging.

a moving life image

Brunhilde Pomsel, born on January 11, 1911, was not only a central figure in Goebbels' office, but also a woman with a complex story. In 2014, at the age of 103, she shared her memories in the documentary "A German Life", which is based on a 30-hour interview. Her life began in the Jewish milieu of Berlin, she joined the NSDAP in 1933 and was transferred to the Reich Ministry for People's Education and Propaganda in 1942 at the recommendation of a Nazi friend. There she worked as a stenographer until the end of the war and dealt with the manipulation of statistics and the spread of propaganda.

After the war, Pomsel experienced a dramatic turn - she was detained in three concentration camps before she fled to the Federal Republic of Germany and worked there until she retired as a secretary. Her time in the Nazi regime left a clear stamp on her life, emphasizing until her death that she knew nothing about the "final solution".

theater in the shadow of ideology

The examination of the dark chapters of history does not remain without echo in the theater. In National Socialist Germany, the rulers tried to use the theater for their purposes and held strict influence on the playwright and theater maker. Artists either had to adapt, withdraw or emigrate, many brilliant heads left the country. The ideals of the Weimar Republic, such as intellectual freedom and desire to experiment, were replaced by dullness and chauvinism.

The goal was to create a folk consciousness and to arouse "heroic hearts", especially in the youth. But the reality was often shaped by censorship and a decline in creativity - many significant works were lost in the burning of books. The control over the theater was in the hands of the "Reichstheaterkammer", which had to approved decisive decisions to build a nationalistic thought building.

Despite this story, the power of the theater remains unbroken. Matthias Hartmann, the former director of the Burgtheater, is currently staging Bernhard's "theater maker" and reflects on stereotypes such as racism and age discrimination. Föttinger also takes a position in the title role of the stage of the stage and illuminates the interactions of art and society.

It looks like Vienna is facing a theater season that not only wants to entertain but also want to stimulate thought. In this colorful mix of history and the present you can be excited to see which stories the stages of our city will tell in the coming months.

For more information about the current theater season in Vienna, you can do the entire details in the reports of News.at href = "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/brunhilde_pomsel"> wikipedia and theater-info.de Read.