This year the 26th SZENE BUNTE WÄHNE Festival in Lower Austria will take place in spring for the first time, lasting from May 18th to June 26th.
The big opening and highlight will be the International Theatre Festival for a Young Audience from May 18th– 25th – 8 days full of theatre, dance, music theatre and puppet theatre, concerts and performances for young audiences! The festival is based in Horn in Lower Austria.
Let us present some highlights and cordially invite you to the event.
Opening Thu. May 19th
At 4 p.m. you will be able to attune for the day with Stephan Rabl’s staging “MUM‘S SONGS ARE GIFTS” (2 – 7 years), an opera for the youngest and their parents.
At 6 p.m. the festival’s inauguration will take place by a gala performance of “THE QUEEN HAS VANISHED” (5 – 12 years) by the Flemish group Kopergietery. The moving musical including drama, live music and live video illustrations alone is worth the journey.
Afterwards, for the official opening, Accordionix will herald the musical part of the evening with 15 accordions and drums. At the same time, you’ll alternatively be able to go see the intimate play “HOTEL SAVOY” (14-99 years), an adaption of the significant novel by Austrian writer Joseph Roth. At 9pm the evening will culminate in a large open-air concert: the legendary African acapella group Insingizi will come to Horn, having celebrated a gold record and finished a big US tour.
Family Days (Fri. May 20th– Sun. 22nd) music_boX horn (Fri. May 20th– Sat. 21st) and other highlights
Other highlights of the Int. Theatre festival will be the performances of Zonzo Compagnie‘s “STARING GIRL” (10-17 years) on Monday May 23rd and “FLEX” (14-99 years) by Junges Theater Basel on Fri. May 20th & Sat. 21st. This Swiss theatre company was nominated for a Nestroy prize for its “Festwochen”–production in 2015. Kenjiro Otani’s company ma will come all the way from Japan and exclusively show their work “STRONG IN THE RAIN” (4-12 years) for the first time in a German-speaking country on Wed May 25th.
On Sun. May 22nd “FARM TO SELL” (14-99 years) starring Holger Schober will premiere. It’s a co-production of Wiaz’HausTheatre, Theatre Land Steiermark and SZENE BUNTE WÄHNE directed by Julia Faßhuber.
The family days Horn, Fri. 20th till Sun. May 22nd, puts families with children of all ages into the focus of the festival: they can choose from a big variety of theatre performances, workshops, hands-on activities and even a family café. In addition to the performances of “RONJA THE ROBBER’S DAUGHTER” (6-11 years) on Friday and “HANS IN LUCK” (5-10 years) by Theater der Jungen Welt Leipzig on Saturday, the IYASA’s performance – their African rhythms and stories – will constitute a musical highlight.
In the evenings of Fr. May 20th & Sat. 21st, music_boX horn will invite you to 7 downtown venues in Horn. Live concerts and DJ-lines will take place there until late in the night, hosting bands such as Skolka or Nkwali & Band.
After the International Theatre Festival in Horn the festival will spread into the rest of the region until June 26th, and is devoted to the themes Thayatal and Franz-Josefs-Bahn (amongst others), all assembled under the theme Natural Region – Cultural Region. Consequently, in Raabs/Th (Cultural Spring in Raabs Wed May 25th – Sun 29th) around 15 concerts and theatre performances will take place. Likewise in Gmünd, Waidhofen/Th, Groß-Siegharts and many other places in Waldviertel.
As a special treat, we’d like to highlight Radessen – A Village Restaged. For two days, from Fri. June 24th till Sat. June 25th the small farmer’s village (11 farms) will stage theatrical performances (a.o. starring Holger Schober and Martha Laschkolnig) and concerts – in places such as a cowshed, a chapel, the courtyards or old farms. From the afternoon until late at night you’ll be happy to live, celebrate and enjoy art & culture and a warm summer evening.
We are looking forward to the festival and to all of our guests and visitors!
Best regards,
Stephan Werner Katharina Hiller Agnes Zenker
Festival manager Project manager Production & Communication
