!!!Theater, Geschichte
Theatre: As is the case with theatre throughout Europe, staged
performances in Austria have their roots in the Middle Ages. The
origin of Christian drama was the Easter mass liturgy: members of the
clergy celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ by means of
symbolic gestures and alternate singing (tropes) on the church
premises. In the course of time, the plays became more realistic and
included an increasing number of scenes, up to the point when plays
lasted several days (e.g. Bozener Passion). The Passion Plays of the
late Middle Ages, particularly popular in Vienna and Tirol
(Brixen/Bressanone, Bozen/Bolzano, Sterzing/Vipiteno, Hall, Lienz),
were performed on church grounds or the market square. Respected
townspeople also acted in these plays, and the vernacular gradually
superseded Latin. Important artists were commissioned to design the
settings of the plays: the wood-carver W. Rollinger in Vienna, the
painter V. Raber in Tirol. In Bozen/Bolzano and Sterzing/Vipiteno,
first efforts in the German-speaking area were made to cast female
actors to play women in the early 16%%sup th/% century.
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After the suppression of the medieval tradition of Passion Plays
during the Reformation, the tradition was revived in the Baroque
period by the Catholic orders, and in particular the Jesuits, who
would employ impressive Corpus Christi Processions and Passion Plays
as a means of Counter-Reformation. But the more popular the plays
became with the rural population, the coarser became their content,
which eventually led to repeated bans on theatrical performances in
the 18%%sup th/% century. Nevertheless, some of these plays have
survived to this day. Along with passion plays, several other forms of
Religious Drama evolved in Austria, including various types of
nativity play (including "Hirtenspiele" or
"shepherds´ plays"), mystery plays and procession
plays.
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Earliest evidence of secular drama dates back to the 14%%sup th/%
century, when the Neidhartspiel emerged. In the 15%%sup th/%
century, this originally simple spring play evolved into the
"Great Neidhartspiel" with 2,200 verses. These plays too
grew more and more elaborate in the course of time, by making
increased use of music, dance and singing. In the 15%%sup th/%
century, various forms of the Fastnachtspiele (carnival plays)
evolved in Austria and throughout the German-speaking lands. They
originated from pre-Christian ritual celebrated at particular times of
the year ("Winteraustreiben", i.e. driving out the winter,
carnival parades, "Perchtenlauf", or local farcical court
trials).
\\
As Passion and Carnival Plays reached the height of their popularity,
humanist scholars at royal courts made endeavours to revive Greek and
Roman drama. In Vienna, K. Celtis studied Terence at a suggestion of
E. S. Piccolomini (who was to become Pope Pius II) some
years earlier and staged comedies by Plautus and Terence in the
university hall with his students in 1502/1503. The epigrams in Latin,
which served as invitations to the plays, are considered the first
theatre programmes in the German-speaking area. The tradition of
homage plays ("Ludi Caesarei"), started also by Celtis, was
continued by the Abbot of the monastery of the Virgin Mary
(Schottenstift) in Vienna, B. Chelidonius. The performances staged by
the Schottenstift monastery, and in particular the popular didactic
drama by W. Schmeltzl, set an example followed by many monastic and
cathedral schools in the Austrian lands. While the Catholic drama was
highly evolved and culminated in the Latin Jesuit plays, Protestant
didactic drama in Austria was rather short-lived and came to an end
during the Counter-Reformation. Its centre was the Latin grammar
school at Steyr (today Upper Austria) under the rectors T. Brunner and
G. Mauritius; the Protestant Linz School of Estates had in G.
Calaminus one of the most influential neo-Latin playwrights among its
ranks.
\\
The beginning of the Baroque Age in Austria is marked by the first
performance of "Speculum vitae humanae", a play in the
tradition of "Everyman", at the royal court in Innsbruck in
1584; this was the first comedy in German prose, written by Archduke
Ferdinand II of Tirol. It reiterated many of the Renaissance
elements contained in earlier didactic drama, but was also influenced
by Jesuit drama and the Commedia dell´arte of Italian
Itinerant Theatre Troupes, who toured the Austrian lands together with
English troupes ( English Comedians) and started the development of
independent professional theatre in Austria.
\\
The foremost influence on Austrian Baroque drama was the Italian
Opera. The first documented performance of an opera in the
German-speaking area was at Salzburg under Archbishop Marcus
Sitticus, Count of Hohenems. Under his direction, a grotto in
Hellbrunn was turned into a rock theatre and the stage at his
residence was modelled after grand Italian stages. The second centre
of early Baroque opera in Austria, with theatres of unparalleled
splendour in the Italian tradition, was Innsbruck. At the court in
Vienna, the Baroque opera enjoyed its particular popularity during the
reigns of the Emperors Ferdinand III, Leopold I,
Joseph I and Karl VI. Musical drama festivals had already
been held in Austria since the beginning of the Baroque Age, but was
it was not until the end of the Thirty Years´ War, when the most
influential Italian artists gathered at Vienna, that the Vienna
Baroque theatre achieved fame throughout Europe. 3 artists in
particular exerted massive influence on the prestigious opera
festivals at the court of Leopold I: the set and costume designer
L. O. Burnacini, the librettist N. Minato and the composer A.
Draghi, mostly supported by the ballet composer J. H. Schmeltzer
and the choreographer Santo Ventura. After Leopold´s death,
theatrical life grew more colourful and diverse on account of the
large number of artists who worked side by side: the foremost
librettists were P. Pariati, A. Zeno and, particularly, P.
Metastasio, who left his imprint on theatrical production at the
Vienna court for over half a century; composers included F. Conti,
J. J. Fux, M. A. Ziani and A. Caldara; members of the
Galli-Bibiena family were successful set designers, costumes were
designed by A. D. Bertoli.
\\
The era in which theatre festivals at court were a display of imperial
power and a manifestation of the rivalry with France over the
predominance in Europe came to an end after the reign of Emperor
Karl VI. Under Empress Maria Theresia, the old court stage was
only once the venue for an opera production (in 1744), and in 1748 it
was transformed into the Redoutensaal ballrooms by A. Galli-Bibiena.
The opera festivals at court were thus deprived of their glorious
setting and increasingly reduced to "family events" held in
the intimacy of the imperial summer residences. This development
gained further momentum in 1747, when Maria Theresia commissioned the
construction of the still existing Schlosstheater at Schoenbrunn
Palace. On the other hand, the grand opera ceased to be reserved for
aristocratic patrons, because as early as 1741, Maria Theresia had the
empty festival and banquet hall on Michaelerplatz square turned into a
theatre ( Burgtheater), rented it out and opened it to the townspeople
of Vienna. It was on this stage that C. W. Gluck produced his
first "reform operas" in co-operation with the choreographer
and ballet reformer J. G. Noverre.
\\
While the grand opera festivals of the Baroque had addressed an
exclusively aristocratic audience, the religious drama of the Catholic
orders was intended to appeal to all classes. The most outstanding
productions were those of the Jesuits and the Benedictines with the
significant playwright S. Rettenbacher (Lambach, Salzburg,
Kremsmuenster), but other orders such as Cistercians (at
Heiligenkreuz), Piarists (Vienna, Horn, Krems), Augustinian Canons
Regular and Capuchins also cultivated the theatre.
\\
Alongside court and religious drama, a significant contribution to
Austrian theatre in the Baroque Age was made by strolling troupes.
From the travelling comedians emerged the first great actor of the
Volkstheater, Altwiener, J. A. Stranitzky, the creator and first
impersonator of the Viennese Hanswurst character, who performed at
the Kaerntnertortheater after 1709. After Stranitzky, the part of
Hanswurst was played and further developed by G. Prehauser, who saw
J. F. v. Kurz, in the role of Bernardon, as his rival. The old
Viennese extempore theatre resisted the animosity of the Leipzig-based
high priest of literature, J. C. Gottsched, and his educated
followers considerably longer than similar theatrical performances in
other German-speaking areas. Well aware of the ban on extempore
comedies which had also been passed in Austria, P. Hafner wrote
dramas which skilfully avoided any passages liable to attract
criticism by the reformers. Thus, popular drama evolved as a literary
form per se and managed to withstand the attacks by its adversaries,
headed by J. v. Sonnenfels.
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Towards the end of the 18%%sup th/% century, several efforts were
made to set up permanent theatres in the Vienna suburbs, three of
which succeeded in establishing themselves permanently in Vienna
theatrical life: the Leopoldstaedter Theater (in the 2%%sup nd/%
district of Vienna, 1781), the Freihaustheater in Wieden, the
4%%sup th/% district (established 1787, moved to the Theater an der
Wien in 1801) and the Theater in der Josefstadt (in the 8%%sup th/%
district, 1788). The most celebrated stage of the Old Viennese popular
theatre was the Leopoldstaedter Theater, popularly called
"Kasperltheater" after its foremost actor, J. J. La
Roche, who created and played the comic character of Kasperl. The
last endeavours to continue the old tradition of strictly defined
character comedy were made by the actor A. Hasenhut with his
"Thaddaedl" character. In "Staberl", played by I.
Schuster, A. Baeuerle created the first buffoon character from among
the common people and ranks, along with J. A. Gleich and K.
Meisl among the three most celebrated personalities of the old
Viennese popular theatre of the time before Raimund and Nestroy. Most
of F. Raimund´s magical plays were also produced at the
Leopoldstaedter Theater, his last work, "Der Verschwender"
(1834), was first performed at the Theater in der Josefstadt. The last
representative of the popular comedy in the old tradition was J.
Nestroy, who first performed at the Theater an der Wien, and later at
the Carltheater. He played 410 parts altogether, of which every
6%%sup th/% was written by himself. In his function as managing
director of the Carltheater (1854-1860) he adapted Offenbach to the
Austrian stage, thus paving the way for the Operetta. With the
premiere of "Die Schoene Helena" (1865), the Theater an der
Wien became the leading operetta stage in Vienna and thus the
birthplace of the Viennese operetta. Subsequently, two other renowned
operetta houses were established: the Volksoper (formerly
Kaiser-Jubilaeums-Stadttheater) and the Raimundtheater.
\\
A historical event of enormous consequence for the development of
theatre in the German-speaking lands and the Austrian provincial
capitals of Graz and Innsbruck in particular took place in 1776, when
Emperor Joseph II elevated the "theatre next to the
Burg", adapted in 1741, to the status of "k. k. Hof-
und Nationaltheater" and promoted acting and singing in the
German language rather than Italian operas and ballets. In 1789,
Joseph made J. F. H. Brockmann, who engaged actors from all
over the German-speaking lands, first managing director of the
Burgtheater. During the reign of Joseph´s successor
Leopold II, who, being also Grand Duke of Tuscany, was educated
in the Italian tradition and taste, the opera reached new heights.
This was especially due to A. Salieri having begun staging operas at
the prestigious Burgtheater. The Burgtheater finally achieved a
leading position among drama stages under the artistic direction of J.
Schreyvogel (1814-1832). He adopted a repertoire centred around the
main works of European literature and discovered the plays of F.
Grillparzer for the stage. H. Laube (1849-1867) was the first
regisseur, or director, in the modern sense of the word and placed
particular emphasis on language and pronunciation, while F. v.
Dingelstedt (1870-1881) concentrated rather on stage arrangement.
Those years saw keen competition between Dingelstedt and Laube in his
function as manager of the newly founded bourgeois Stadttheater,
Wiener. The primary achievement of A. v. Wilbrandt as Burgtheater
manager (1881-1887) was the production of classical tragedies.
\\
In 1888, under the management of A. v. Sonnenthal, the new
Burgtheater buildings on Ringstrasse street were opened;
Sonnenthal´s successor, M. Burckhard (1890-1898), introduced
naturalist drama to the Burgtheater and presented the premiere of A.
Schnitzler´s "Liebelei" (1895), along with several
other plays. After the end of the monarchy, the "k. k.
Hofburgtheater", as it was still called, gradually came to be
officially called the "Burgtheater" - and thus the
prestigious state theatre of the Austrian Republic. In 1922, the
Akademietheater became the studio theatre of the Burgtheater,
following previously failed efforts to set up studio theatres at the
Schoenbrunner Schlosstheater or the Redoutensaal ballrooms.
\\
In its function as official court theatre during the monarchy and
state theatre thereafter, the Burgtheater was subject to various
restrictions; the resulting lacunae in the theatre scene were filled
by several private initiatives, which also led to the establishment of
Laube´s Wiener Stadttheater: the Deutsche Volkstheater (today
Volkstheater) in 1889, the Raimund-Theater in 1893, the
Kaiser-Jubilaeums-Stadttheater in 1898 (today Volksoper). Under J.
Jarno, the Theater in der Josefstadt became a leading, if commercially
oriented, stage committed to literary works in 1899, and in 1908 the
Buehne, Neue Wiener was permanently set up on the premises on the
former Harmonietheater. The most interesting private stage in Vienna
in the early 20%%sup th/% century was the Theater in der Josefstadt,
on whose style and fashion M. Reinhardt had a lasting and formative
influence after 1924. He was also greatly involved in founding the
Salzburg Festival and set up the celebrated drama school, the
Reinhardt-Seminar, which was later combined with the state academy,
where he instructed young actors who continued his style.
\\
In the National Socialist era, artists loyal to the new regime were
installed as managers and actors in nearly all the theatres from 1938,
leaving a specifically Austrian theatrical development to the
Kleinkunst (cabaret and revue) stages. By the early 1930s, the
Kabarett had already started showing an awareness of contemporary
issues, particularly the Augustin, Lieber" and the
"Literatur am Naschmarkt" cabarets. These left-wing
political cabarets came to an end after the Anschluss (union with
Germany) in 1938; their place was taken by the "Wiener
Werkel", which managed to resist the Nazi authorities.
\\
The Burgtheater and the Staatsoper (state opera) buildings were
heavily damaged by air raids in World War II, but performances
were taken up again as early as 1945, with the Ronacher, the Theater
an der Wien and the Volksoper serving as temporary premises. The
Austrian Federal Theatres were re-opened in 1955, the year in which
State Treaty was concluded. The Theater in der Josefstadt and the
Volkstheater had only suffered slight damage during the war, so plays
could be performed on their stages soon after the war, in the spring
of 1945. Since 1954, productions of the Volkstheater have also been
staged in the Vienna suburbs.
\\
The Vienna Festival was established in 1951 and has since marked, in
May/June, the annual beginning of the festival season in Austria. The
summer festivals are still dominated by the Salzburg Festival, despite
increased theatrical production in other cities: since 1945 Bregenz
(Vorarlberg) has become the second festival centre in Austria (
Bregenz Festival), and Graz has had its own theatre festival since
1954 ( steirischer herbst festival). However, festivals are not only
held in the provincial capitals, but also in numerous other towns and
cities.
\\
The post-war years saw the foundation of a large number of theatres
which chose new ways of theatrical expression. This marked the
beginning of the era of the cellar theatres, which continued the
tradition of literary-political cabaret of the 1930s. In the 1960s
avant-garde theatre groups emerged, some of which have survived to
this day, such as the Experiment am Lichtenwerd and the
Ateliertheater am Naschmarkt. In the 1970s and 80s, theatrical life
was enriched by many medium-sized and small theatre groups,
particularly in Vienna, (including the Komoedianten, the
Ensembletheater, the Schauspielhaus, Serapions Theater, the
Gruppe 80), the freie Gruppen and the flourishing cabaret and
revue scene.
\\
The Austrian provinces, too, stage their own theatrical productions
throughout the year; the Provincial and Municipal Theatres at Linz,
Salzburg, Graz, Klagenfurt, Innsbruck, St. Poelten and Baden all
cover a wide variety of genres; stages which host guest performances
are located at Wiener Neustadt, Steyr and Leoben. The provinces of
Vorarlberg and Burgenland occupy a somewhat special position: the
"Theater fuer Vorlarlberg" is based at Bregenz, but stages
guest performances in all major towns in the area as well as in the
neighbouring provinces. In 1997 Burgenland developed an individual
"theatre concept" in co-operation with the
"Burgenlaendischen Kulturzentren" at Eisenstadt,
Mattersburg, Oberschuetzen, Guessing and Jennersdorf.
\\
Institutes, collections, societies: Institut fuer Theaterwissenschaft
(Institute of Theatre Studies) at the University of Vienna, Austrian
Centre of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) of the UNESCO,
Kommission fuer Theatergeschichte (up to 1993 Kommission fuer Theater
Oesterreichs) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austrian Theatre
Museum, Gesellschaft fuer Musiktheater, Internationales Opernarchiv,
Gesellschaft der Freunde des Burgtheaters, Max-Reinhardt-Forschungs-
und Gedenkstaette (Vienna and Salzburg), Wiener Buehnenverein, Wiener
Dramaturgie, Oesterreichische Theatergemeinde.
!Literature
Kommission fuer Theatergeschichte Oe. of the Austrian
Academy of Sciences (ed.), Theatergeschichte Oesterreich,
10 vols., 1964ff.; F. Hadamowsky, Wien. Theatergeschichte. Von
den Anfaengen bis zum Ende des Ersten Weltkriegs, 1988.
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