Weense Herfst

In recent years, the Dutch actors collective De Warme Winkel has made a name for itself with a series of performances on five people from the Austrian arts. In association with various guest actors and directors, the group has immersed itself in the life and work of Thomas Bernhard, Rainer Maria Rilke, Stefan Zweig, Alma Mahler and Oskar Kokoschka. Under the title Viennese Autumn, the Kaaitheater and the cultural centres in Strombeek and Dilbeek are presenting four of these five pieces in the Brussels area.
  
The series provides a splendid picture of Vienna at the turn of the century. In around 1900, Vienna was the cultural capital of Europe and a magnet to everyone who wanted to be involved in the arts in any way. At the heart of the flourishing Habsburg empire, literature, the fine arts and theatre thrived to an unprecedented degree and intensity. However, over this dazzling period – into which a certain decadence was undeniably woven – hung the approaching catastrophe of the Great War, which signalled the end of this culture. In these productions, the beginning of last century was taken as a mirror for the beginning of the present one, and the dying Habsburg empire is seen as a metaphor for Europe. This means Viennese Autumn is something like a melancholy warning. After all, who, at the end of the century, could have imagined what disasters were in store for Europe?

• Since 2002 De Warme Winkel has been making plays based on a fascination with history and a love of literature. Their theatre work is energetic, performative and visual. They avail themselves of a wild imagination and every possible acting style and influence: from Stanislavski to Artaud and from ballet to slapstick. Kokoschka, the fifth part of Viennese Autumn, was shown during last year’s Theatre Festival.