Theatre and Performance in Austria

About this book

This volume analyses the Austrian tradition of theatre and performance, from the musical culture of Haydn's Vienna to the Salzburg Festival and the political theatre of the present day. The topics discussed include Mozart's The Magic Flute, the comedies of Nestroy: Hofmannsthal's Arabella, Schnitzler's Reigen, the political dramas of Ernst Weiss and Felix Mitterer, the feminist theatre of Elfriede Jelinek, the satirical comedies of Vaclav Havel, and the provocations of Peter Handke and the Graz avant-garde. The book raises fundamental questions about the relationship between tradition and innovation, gender and sexuality, and audience and spectacle, as well as considering the problems of translation and reception. Through examining the interactions between public performance and national identity, it provides a wide-ranging account of one of the defining features of Austrian culture.