DER GETÖTETE AUTOR ("The Author is Dead")
Dramatic whodunnit reading including a library tour and an audience voting.
TÄTER UNKNOWN
("Culprit Unknown")
A most unusual whodunnit: in this dramatic reading, three individuals of questionable character are under suspicion of murder – and the audience renders the verdict.
Author Thomas Kodnar's play features three different endings. As a member of the audience, you stay on the characters' tracks through various rooms in the library, then pick the character you deem most suspicious. The majority vote determines which character is accused of the crime and, thus, which of the three endings is performed.
Der getötete Autor
("The Author is Dead")
A famous playwright was murdered. Many had a motive for the crime: The Author was notorious for weaving real people into his plays, hardly disguising them, and denouncing and humiliating them on stage.
Three of the Author's acquaintances – "The So-called Lover", "The Ex-Agent", and "The Wannabe-Colleague" – pin the blame on each other, declare their own innocence ... and soon come to realise what predicament they are in: they suspects not only in the limelight, but in court, too. Their audience is their jury.
Trailer
Trailer by Markus Raffeis | mrks media
Original context: "TÄTER UNKNOWN". A co-production of glashaus, Bibliothek im Zentrum, and Stadt Wiener Neustadt.
Past dates:
- August 30, 2023 (Premiere) | August 31st, 2023 | September 1, 2023
Bibliothek im Zentrum (Schlögelgasse 22-26, 2700 Wiener Neustadt)
- April 11, 2024 | April 19, 2024 | April 23, 2024
Bibliothek im Zentrum (Schlögelgasse 22-26, 2700 Wiener Neustadt)
Photos:
- Promo (photos by Dominik Perchtold | klubkunst)
- Premiere (photos by Dominik Perchtold | klubkunst)
CAST
Photos by Dominik Perchtold | klubkunst
András Sosko
Der Erzähler (The Narrator)
Bettina Schwarz
Belle Schöma
("The So-Called Lover")
Tobias Ofenbauer
Hermann Heimlich
("The Wannabe-Colleague")
Violetta Zupančič
Stella Will
("The Ex-Agent")
Thomas Kodnar
Der Autor (The Author)
CREW
Production management: Clara Scheicher
Project coordination Bibliothek im Zentrum: Verena Kubicek & Robert Mech
PR: Thomas Kodnar & Clara Scheicher
Graphics: Stephanie Schwarz | Frau Schwarz Grafik-Design
Script & creative control: Thomas Kodnar
Clara Scheicher and Thomas Kodnar
(Photo by Dominik Perchtold | klubkunst)
Verena Kubicek, Robert Mech, Clara Scheicher, Thomas Kodnar
(Photo by Dominik Perchtold | klubkunst)
Dominik Perchtold | klubkunst
(Photo by Dominik Perchtold | klubkunst)
PRESS
This was TÄTER UNKNOWN: a dramatic whodunnit reading including a library tour and an audience voting. www.glashauskollektiv.com
Wiener Neustadt, September 4, 2023
THE AUTHOR is dead …
The glashaus collective did it again: all three shows of their new play Täter Unknown ("Culprit Unknown") were sold out. In a tour around the Bibliothek im Zentrum, members of the audience stayed on the tracks of three suspects before deciding themselves which of the three is to be accused of having killed the dead author.
A combination of popular formats with an extra pinch of immersion and self-reference
Like the successful glashaus-format Story Unknown, Täter Unknown is a dramatic reading; this time, what the actors and actresses didn't know in advance wasn't the script in its entirety, but which character will be condemned by the audience and which of three possible endings will be read as a result. And with their fan-favourite guided city walks around Wiener Neustadt, Ghost Walk and Ghost Walk 2 – Edition Noir, glashaus previously delivered theatre at multiple stations.
The interactive whodunnit Täter Unknown feels like a creative combination of these earlier projects, yet abounds with original content and direction. But more pronounced even than its relation to previous formats is Täter Unknown's reference to itself: it's a play about plays, with its own author present on stage representing authorship in general and with a narrator narrating the implications of being a narrator. More than anything else, however, Täter Unknown is one thing especially: terrific fun.
Reading as performance and audience trial
András Sosko told the story as "The Narrator". Violetta Zupančič as "The Ex-Agent" Stella Will was accused of the murder twice [in 2023]. The third time around, the audience blamed "The Wannabe-Colleague" Hermann Heimlich played by Tobias Ofenbauer. Only Bettina Schwarz as "The So-Called Lover" Belle Schöma escaped conviction. Täter Unknown-author Thomas Kodnar also took to the stage as "The Author".
New under the glass roof
Täter Unknown is not the only novelty to come out of the art collective this year: Clara Scheicher is new to the team, and Täter Unknown is the first production she and Kodnar – who not only wrote the script this time but debuted as creative director – developed together from the ground up. "The two of them did great," says Elena Schwarz, the collective's artistic manager, "everything about it was wonderful!" The audience appears to agree: not only were all three evenings sold out, but requests for more shows – and a chance to see all three endings – are also already incoming.
Täter Unknown was a collaboration with the Bibliothek im Zentrum and the Stadt Wiener Neustadt. glashaus want to express their gratitude to both of them for the cooperation; to main sponsor Alte Kronen Apotheke as well as sponsors Wiener Neustädter Sparkasse, MeinDrucker.net, EKU das Fenster, and RE/MAX; and to Land Niederösterreich, the BMKÖS, and the Stadt Wiener Neustadt.
