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Vienna. "It was not a walk", summarizes Erwin Piplits at the founding of the Odeon in 1988 and his three decades of career as an impresario and theater designer. "But I've mastered it, I'm still here and I'm really doing free theater."
The Adventure Theater for Piplits began in the 1960s with comedians. The theater troupe led by Conny Hannes Meyer was one of the spearheads of free theater in Vienna at that time. The troupe caused a sensation with extremely self-developed and at the time extremely provocative pieces such as "Hamlet in Mauthausen". Diplomats have always kept a certain distance from the institutionalized theatrical sector: "I was absolutely not indifferent to what was important and there was not what was important to me," he wrote. in "Fable de Serapion", an illustrated book on his story. Theaterformation, 2013 self-published.
In the early 1970s, Piplits met the artist and scenographer Ulrike Kaufmann – this was the beginning of a longstanding, private and artistic relationship. Together, they founded the puppet theater "Pupodrom". With cleverly designed characters and sophisticated pieces, they entered an unknown territory of this country.
After years of traveling, they finally settled in an empty cellar cinema on Wallensteinplatz. Performances at home and abroad have followed, but in Vienna, they have remained a secret for the moment.
The Serapionist Principle
Gradually, a group of actors such as Karl Markovics and Karl Ferdinand Kratzl laid the foundation for their careers. The name Theater of Serapion was based on E.T.A. "Serapionist Principle" of Hoffmann chosen. It is important to visualize an inner image, a mental state with the means of poetry for the outside world. This somewhat mystical approach describes well the approach and the aspirations of the troop. According to Piplits, it is "visual scenic poetry". After a large-scale project with the Wiener Festwochen "Anima" in 1986, they no longer wanted to be satisfied with the dimensions of the cellar theater. A new theater space was searched and found on Taborstraße. With personal dedication and huge private funds, the ruin of fire of the old agricultural stock exchange, vacant since the end of the war, has been revitalized. It is thus that the Odeon of today, probably one of the most beautiful plateaus of Vienna, took shape under the direction of Kaufmann and Piplits.
The starting point of many performances were forgotten texts, often from other cultures. The first to come "The free, the robber, the boss and the judgment" will treat in February 2019 of the Maat, Egyptian world order of 4000 years old.
From a stylistic point of view, the training evolved from pure puppet theater to masks and hybrid forms of dance and movement theater. Styling for performance Odeon has always been Ulrike Kaufmann's equipment, which has challenged trends and fashions. The sets and costumes of the artist, who died in 2014, were extraordinary. In his honor, Piplits published the beautiful illustrated book "Ulrike Kaufmann".
Fallen from time
With its visual opulence and playful landscapes, the Odeon has already held a vanguard position on the Viennese theatrical scene. Today, the troupe seems rather obsolete. Therefore, in recent years, grant providers have repeatedly tried to influence the place in the second district. The belligerent theater factor successfully thwarted these attempts: "I have endured it," Piplits said at the anniversary press conference. "I resisted." The budget has, however, decreased steadily.
At age 79, the future of the stage remains open: "It's decided by the Odeon's only theater club." A general badembly is being organized in January. " Nachsatz: "The Odeon remains a free initiative of artists where there is more than Odeon."
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