The Wall (Die Wand)
January 1970 | ||||||
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The Wall by Marlen Haushofer
Accompanied by her cousin and her cousin's husband, the 40-year-old narrator travels to the Austrian mountains. They plan on staying in a hunting lodge for the weekend, but the next morning the woman finds herself alone with her cousins' dog, Luchs. The couple, who planned on having dinner in the valley, did not return. The woman leaves to look for the couple but soon discovers why they did not come back: a seemingly endless, invisible wall separates her from the other side of the valley.
In an attempt to find out what had happened, she uses binoculars to look for other people. The only other person she can see is a man who seems to be frozen still. It seems to her that a tragedy killed all living creatures on the other side of the wall. She is entirely alone, protected and trapped, in equal measure, by the invisible wall.
All her attempts to get to the other side of the wall fail, so she slowly starts to adjust to her new situation. Because the area in which she is trapped is fairly wide, she learns to live off her supplies, the fruits and animals of the surrounding forest, and her garden. Besides looking after herself she soon starts to look after the animals who are dependent on her: a dog, cats, and a pregnant cow. With the winter coming she starts writing a report that makes up the book, unsure whether anyone will ever read it.
Towards the end of the novel, the first and only other person appears. He kills her dog and calf, apparently with no reason for doing so. She shoots him, ending perhaps her only chance of ever interacting with a human again.
The story ends with her writing that the cow is pregnant again, and she is hoping that the cat will have new kittens. But she is also running out of ammunition and matches, so her future might become even more difficult. At the end of the book, her fate is unknown.
Program and cast
Staging: Christian Nickel
Lighting: Marcus Loran
CAST
Dorothee Hartinger
Burgtheater
The stage of the Burgtheater is one of the biggest theatre stages in the world. The stage portal is 12m wide, the main stage is 28,5m wide, 23m deep and 28m high. At the opening in 1888 the stage technology was already innovatory and has been modernized on many occasions. During the reconstruction after World War II, which was accomplished in 1955, a stage equipment was installed that is still revolutionary today. The revolving stage consists of a rotating cylinder (15m high, 21m diameter) and four hydraulic lifts (12 x 4 m each). With the help of this technical features the scenery can be changed within 40 seconds. It is the biggest automatic and computer controlled stagesystem in Europe.
The Burgtheater auditorium holds 1175 seats, it has standing room for 84 visitors and 12 places for disabled visitors.
Apart from the stage-art the Burgtheater plays an important part in architecture and interior design of the 19th century in Vienna. The magnificent decoration, especially the two imperial staircases painted by Gustav Klimt, his brother Ernst Klimt and their companion Franz Matsch as well as the main foyer and the many statues, busts and paintings of famous writers and actors can be visited during our dailyguided tour.
Performances: We 13 Nov 2024,
Performances: Fr 28 Mar 2025,
Performances: Su 16 Feb 2025,
Performances: Mo 21 Oct 2024,
Performances: Sa 21 Sep 2024,
Performances: Su 08 Jun 2025,