Venue: Schauspielhaus Wien
Town: Vienna, AT

Schauspielhaus Wien is a theatre in Vienna, Austria, located at 19 Porzellangasse in the 9th District of Vienna (Alsergrund). As of the 2023/24 season, the artistic direction is collectively shared by director Marie Bues, dramaturge Martina Grohmann, director and dramaturge Tobias Herzberg, and author and dramaturge Mazlum Nergiz. Under their leadership, Schauspielhaus Wien has launched a new audience platform “Offenes^Haus” (Open House) which offers participatory projects for the neighbourhood and the general public. The history of the theatre extends back to the beginning of the 20th century, when there was a variety club located in the basement of 19 Porzellangasse. This was later adapted into one of Vienna's first cinemas and operated from 1913 to 1975 under the names Heimat-Kino ("Home Cinema") and Citta 2000 (including a period during the Third Reich where it was cleared of non-Aryan control). In the last year of its existence, it held seating for 597 people. The actual theatre opened on 4 May 1978 with Jean Genet's play Der Balkon ("The Balcony") following its renovation by Hans Gratzer (1941 in Vienna Neustadt - 2005 in Rainfeld), leader of the theatre group Werkstatt ("Workshop") which operated out of the Neues Theater am Kärtnertor theatre. Hans Gratzer performed classic productions, contemporary drama and musical productions at the Schauspielhaus until 1986. From 1987 until 1990, George Tabori (*1914 in Budapest; † 2007 in Berlin) installed his theatre group Der Kreis ("the Circle") in the theatre. Hans Gratzer returned to the Schauspielhaus between 1991 and 2001 for a second spell as director. He tried to position the theatre as a first-class contemporary German-language theatre by hosting premiers and first performances. One of his greatest successes was in discovering the playwright Werner Schwab. In his final season, Gratzer, working alongside Martin Haselböck, produced only musical theatre from the theatre, while a completely new form of theatre, Der