“It’s the source of my energy and existence—I wouldn’t ever want to do anything else, not even if I had a thousand options to choose from.” When Ira Süssenbach talks about her work as a stage director, her love of theatre is downright palpable. This fourth-year stage directing student at the Max Reinhardt Seminar spoke with mdw Magazine about her diploma production.

It all began with founding the ensemble Theater Brauhaus in Litschau, which gave students the chance to perform theatrically during the Max Reinhardt Seminar’s summer break. Since then, the northern part of the Waldviertel region has become known for its “Theaterfestival HIN & WEG” and even features its own “theatre village”.

Stage director Wojtek Klemm has joined forces with third-year acting students of the Max Reinhardt Seminar to develop a play about showbusiness itself. Killing of Silent Hopes casts its gaze on the trials and tribulations of life as an actor/actress.

4th-year Max Reinhardt Seminar students Johanna Mahaffy and Anton Widauer are fast approaching graduation. But the ongoing pandemic means huge challenges in terms of training and job-hunting.

Jane Austen and karaoke – an unusual combination? Indeed. And an extremely compelling one, at that. With Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) [German title: Stolz und Vorurteil* (*oder so) ], British author Isobel McArthur recently created a refreshing adaptation of Jane Austen’s world-famous novel for the stage in which five women give their all.

Income losses of up to 100 % and still-non-existent perspectives on how, in what form, and above all when things might be able to go forward: that’s the situation in mid-April for numerous arts and cultural professionals in Austria.

For the Greco-German stage director Sarantos Georgios Zervoulakos, settling on theatre was a big step.

It was in 1928 that the “Acting and Directing Seminar”, founded and subsequently headed by Max Reinhardt, officially set up shop at Schlosstheater Schönbrunn.

The 24-year-old German actor spoke with mdw Magazine about her fear of the acting profession, her plans for the future, and why she wants to play Jedermann in Salzburg.

Since this autumn, the exceptional director David Bösch has been teaching stage directing at the Max Reinhardt Seminar.