Author: Sandra Wolf

FOMO
Liebeserklärung an die Angst unserer Zeit (“Declaration of love to the fear of our times”)

by Ran Chai Bar-zvi
Director & Stage Design: Ran Chai Bar-zvi
Video art: Adam Kaplan

FOMO – “fear of missing out” – is a phenomenon of our time, which is characterized by constant pressure to optimize and increase productivity. Am I missing out on something? Isn’t the life of others, as I constantly see it, much more exciting, productive, simply better than mine? What else do I need to do? Why am I not part of it? Am I not interesting enough?
In his first work in Austria, author, director, and stage designer Ran Chai Bar-zvi uses tongue-in-cheek humor to declare his love for an omnipresent feeling and transfer it to the theater: from the Dunkelkammer, he lets us peek with fascinated concern at the big stage, the beating heart of the Volkstheater. But perhaps the real jewel is to be found in the small Avenue after all?

The world premiere takes place on March 5th, 2026, at 8 p.m. at Dunkelkammer (Volkstheater Wien).

DIE EINGEBORENEN VON MARIA BLUT

Play based on the novel by Maria Lazar
Stage adaptation and directed by Martina Gredler

The idyllic village of Maria Blut with its pilgrimage chapel is a few hours by train from Vienna. It is the 1930s, the era of the corporate state and civil war, Dollfuß is chancellor, and the inhabitants of the “Austrian Lourdes” are in turmoil. The canning factory closes, and the boss, Schellbach, tries to persuade the population to invest in his new product, Raumkraft. Many give their last savings for it. When Schellbach shoots himself during a folk festival, a tremendous dynamic develops: the alleged culprits are quickly found—and it becomes extremely dangerous for them.

The premiere will take place on February 26, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt.

AUTOMATENBÜFFET 
A play in three acts with a prologue and epilogue by Anna Gmeyner

Director: Elsa-Sophie Jach
Costume Design: Belle Santos

The Jewish author Anna Gmeyner, rediscovered only a few years ago – she was forced into exile by the Nazis in 1933 – tells the story of the big world in miniature in Automatenbüfett. While Mrs Adam tries to keep her vending machine restaurant running, Mr Adam pursues his supposedly revolutionary economic vision, which is supposed to serve the good of all. However, with the appearance of the unknown Eva, the eternal order of the small town begins to falter.

Belle Santos is one of the most exciting costume designers and performance artists. She has worked with directors such as Ran Chai Bar-Zvi, Leonie Böhm, Lucia Bihler, and Satoko Ichihara.

The premiere will take place on February 13, 2026, at 8 p.m. at the Marstall, Residenztheater Munich.

DAT WASSER VUN KÖLLE ES JOT

A Rhine crime thriller with music
in cooperation with CORRECTIV by Calle Fuhr
Director: Calle Fuhr

Water evokes emotions. For the Cologne soul in particular, it is more than just an elixir necessary for biological survival: numerous myths and stories lie beneath the surface of the Rhine, and no other German body of water has been sung about as much as the Rhine. The title of the play is taken from a famous line in a song by the Cologne band Bläck Fööss. But how clean is the Rhine?
Interwoven with Rhenish folk songs, Calle Fuhr tells a Cologne crime story that reveals uncomfortable facts about the water quality of the Rhine with the help of explosive research findings from the investigative media company CORRECTIV.

The world premiere will take place on February 7, 2026, at 8 p.m. at Depot 2, Schauspiel Köln.

WIR TÖTEN STELLA (KILLING STELLA)

Based on the novella by Marlen Haushofer
In a theatrical adaptation by Jakab Tarnóczi
Director: Jakab Tarnóczi

Following his staging of the Austrian premiere of Rutherford & Sohn, for which he was nominated for the Nestroy Prize in 2025, Jakab Tarnóczi is staging his second work at the Schauspielhaus Graz with his adaptation of the novella Wir töten Stella (Killing Stella).

The premiere will take place on February 6, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the Schauspielhaus Graz.

VERRÄTER (TRAITORS) by Lisa Wentz

Jo is a teenager, she lives with her family in a Tyrolean village and has to see the pastor regularly. He appeals to her conscience, wants to lead her back to the right path – all because Jo fell in love with a young woman last summer leaving her mother deeply worried. The whole story is a scandal, even a sin in the narrow provincial mindset. Will Jo be able to emancipate herself in her quest for freedom and happiness?

The world premiere takes place on February 2, 2026, at 8 p.m. at the studio of Landestheater Linz.

FAKE JEWS

Written and directed by Noam Brusilovsky

In a present where one’s own identity is becoming increasingly important for the visibility and relevance of a statement, certain biographies are becoming a privilege: So is appropriating Jewish identity a career advantage? A selling point? Or is it rather the case that statements of this kind are not checked too closely when they are so historically sensitive? Noam Brusilovsky explores these questions in a monologue project and sheds light on the blind spots in German remembrance culture in an increasingly polarized present.

The world premiere will take place on January 29, 2026, at 8 p.m. in the Box at the Deutsches Theater Berlin.

Iconic
Sisi, Lady Di und die Welfinnen

featuring texts by Mareike Fallwickl, lynn t musiol, and Jacinta Nandi

In her production, director Jorinde Dröse focuses on royalty from the past centuries, and lynn t musiol has written a text about one of these iconic royal women.

The world premiere will take place on January 23, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the Schauspielhaus of the Niedersächsisches Staatstheater in Hannover.

BLUTBUCH by Kim de l’Horizon

Director and Stage Adaptation: Anna Stiepani

Anna Stiepani—voted Best Young Director of the Year 2024/25 in the critics’ poll by Theater heute—brings her adaptation of Kim de l’Horizon’s novel, winner of the German and Swiss Book Prize, to the stage.

 

The premiere will take place on January 17, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. in the Studio of the Vereinigte Bühnen Bozen.

MUNDTOT von Miriam Unterthiner

Director: Christiane Pohle
Stage and Costume Design: Anton von Bredow

Anton Bredow is designing the stage and costumes for the world premiere of Miriam Unterthiner’s play, which won the Hans Gratzer Prize in 2025 and addresses the abuse of power and sexual violence in competitive sports.

The world premiere will take place on January 16, 2026, at 8 p.m. at the Schauspielhaus Wien.