die theatermacherinnen

What did it mean to be a woman in Vienna in the 1980s in a leadership position? Johanna Tomek – actress, director, co-founder of the Schauspielhaus Wien, the Drachengasse and later the Theater m. b. H. – initially staged under the pseudonym ‘August Himmel’ because female direction was almost unimaginable for many. direction was hardly imaginable for many.

Oh, the independent scene of the 80s and 90s. Here, houses were squatted, demands were made, failed, criticised, talked about, acted upon, blood splattered on walls and everything rethought in the wake of possibilities. Romantic? Here, democratic and undemocratic decisions were made, structures broken down and reproduced.

Today, two women find the shards of a broken jug in the theatre on Petersplatz. The trail leads to Helga Illich, actress, director, co-founder of Gruppe 80. But the deeper the protagonists delve into the mechanics of theatre, the more blurred the boundaries between rehearsal and reality become. Where did this game begin?

Who is directing whom, who is in control? Is it time for us to (re)organise ourselves? What begins as a tribute becomes an obsession, until the players find themselves as characters in a play that they can no longer control themselves. A meta-referential story about creation and freedom encounters questions of appreciation, knowledge transfer and change between generations. It is about expectations of role models, about hopes, disappointments – and about how we shape life and work in our shared society. It is about the next step.