Sieben Frauen und ein Mann betreten im Lauf des Abends die kleine Bühne im Theater Drachengasse, Raum Bar & Co. Sie präsentierten das Finale des Nachwuchs-Theater-Wettbewerbs, Thema “Die Angstmacher”. Die meisten von ihnen sind schauspielerisch sehr gut ausgebildet, haben auch schon an großen Bühnen Erfahrungen gesammelt.

Die fünf Kurzstücke sind unterschiedlich, nähern sich dem Thema von verschiedenen Seiten. Das reizvollste ist wohl “Flap an Fear”, in dem zwei aufgeschreckte Täubchen (herrlich komödiantisch Rowena Hutson und Lauren McCullum), da sie der deutschen Sprache nicht mächtig sind, das Lied vom “Tauberln vergiften” gründlich missverstehen. “Flaneur of Fear” (darstellerisch facettenreiches Trio: Elisa Seydel, Franziska Hackl, Cora Jeannee) relativiert geschickt den Begriff des Bösen. Als sperrig erweist sich “Bang! Bang! Ein Manifest” und bedarf der hervorragenden Interpretin Susanna Kellermayr, um zu voller Wirkung zu kommen.

Allzu einfach macht es sich der begabte Eugen Fulterer mit “Baracks Wurscht-fisch”, eine Gratwanderung ist Anne Frütels “Einbau”.

79 Projektvorschläge waren eingelangt, 70 Prozent aus Österreich, die übrigen 30 Prozent aus 15 weiteren Ländern. Man muss der Jugend eine Chance geben, dann zeigt sie, wie viel Kraft, Mut und Talent sie hat.

English translation:

In the course of the evening, seven women and one man take to the small stage at Theater Drachengasse’s bar & co. They are the finalists of the theatre’s newcomer competition with the theme „Fearmongers“. Most of them have trained at prestigious schools and gained experience at big theatres.

The five short pieces are very different, and approach the theme from alternate angles. The most engaging is Flap and Fear in which two alarmed pigeons (in wonderfully comic portrayals by Rowena Hutson and Lauren McCullum) thoroughly misunderstand the song of poisoning pigeons due to linguistic differences. Flaneur of fear (a trio with a wide range: Elisa Seydel, Franziska Hackl, Cora Jeannee) artfully relativizes the concept of evil. ‘Bang! Bang! a Manifesto’ turns out to be quite clunky and needs Suzanne Kellermeyer’s considerable acting skills to bring it to life.

Eugen Fulterer’s Baracks Wurscht-fisch is too simplistic and Anne Frütel’s Einbau is a balancing act.

79 young artists applied for this scheme, 70% from Austria the other 30% from 15 different countries. The evening shows that if you give young artists a chance they show how much energy, courage and talent they have.

Helpful information? Or did they just worship the mysterious, the unknown and the notorious?

I hadn’t worked in the theatre for a long time, when two years ago I decided enough was enough and took off towards my own unknown. I quit my office job, packed a change of clothes into a rucksack, left my phone and I-pod on the kitchen table and got on a plane leaving England for France.

From France I walked all the way across Spain, to finish on the west coast where the land meets the sea. It took me forty days and forty nights (and if that isn’t true, it should be.)

At the sea I had a choice – to return to my office job, spend all my time there each day, buy a sandwich at lunch, be allowed one tea break in the morning, one in the afternoon.

Or I could choose to spend as much time as possible doing what I love – writing plays. I hadn’t been involved in making theatre for three years. I looked at the map. ‘Here be monsters’ it said.

Scary as it was, I made the choice to return to a career writing plays. I stepped into unknown territory seeking liberation, with a smile on my face and an optimism bordering on insanity. Let there be monsters I thought. Let there be fear.

At the Drachengasse Theatre in Vienna, starting on May 3^rd, will be the play I wrote for the directors of Imploding Fictions. It is called ‘Flap and Fear’.

It involves Lilly and Jesse, two pigeons who go on holiday to Vienna.

You know the way pigeons gather in the park? Then if you move close to them, they flap their wings in fright and fly away? What happens next?

They always come back.

Pigeons returning to the crust of bread in the park and me returning to pursue a career in playwrighting are the same thing. They are stories about the addiction we have to our fears. The compulsion, the obsession to test, sample, discover how close we can get to the fire before we burn our hand.

‘Here Be Monsters’ the map says.

Curious, we keep going to have a look.

- Darren Lerigo, april 2010

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Guest-blogger Darren Lerigo is a Madrid-based playwright and theatremaker. He has written Imploding Fictions’ latest play “Flap and fear” which will be performed as part of the Newcomer-scheme at Theater Drachengasse in Vienna 3rd – 22nd May 2010.