Wed 25 Feb 2026 | 7.30 pm * (Premiere)
Sat 28 Feb 2026 | 7.30 pm *
Thu 5 Mar 2026 | 7.30 pm *
Sun 8 Mar 2026 | 3.30 pm
Tue 10 Mar 2026 | 7.30 pm
Thu 12 Mar 2026 | 7.30 pm
Sat 14 Mar 2026 | 7.30 pm *
Wed 18 Mar 2026 | 7.30 pm *
Sun 22 Mar 2026 | 3.30 pm
* Introduction: half an hour before the start of each performance.
Bahngasse 27, 2700 Wiener Neustadt
approx. 2 hours
Normal price: € 45,- (Cat 1) | 38,- (Cat 2)
U25-Ticket: € 10,-
For further discounts see here
Qualtinger/Merz’ DAS VOLKSFEST
The Wortwiege Festival brings another of only three plays by Helmut Qualtinger and Carl Merz to the stage: on 12th May, Mr. Reindl’s sad existence will finally be given a glow. The unthinkable is made possible by curiosity and sensationalism: his execution is to become a national folk festival. Sharp-tongued, deeply evil and enormously funny.
» Everyone is doing well, you are doing badly. Don't you think that's unfair? «
Two gentlemen make Josef Reindl an irresistible offer that will briefly bring glamor, fame, wealth and recognition to the family man’s sad existence: For ten million, he is supposed to be publicly executed by guillotine on 12th May. Austria’s last executioner – played by Qualtinger himself in the film version – is delighted to return to his original profession and turn his back on his job in pedicure. It will be a spectacle, a folk festival!
What follows is a macabre downward spiral pursuing the path from “That’s unthinkable!” to “How exactly are you going to do it?”.
The morbid comedy was published under the title “Die Hinrichtung” (The Execution) and is one of only three plays by the sharp-witted author duo Helmut Qualtinger and Carl Merz. Once again, they allow us to peer into the darkest corners of the human soul. Directress Ira Süssenbach is an expert in the absurd, the abysmal and the ludicrous and is staging this jewel of Austrian theatre literature for the Wortwiege Festival.
Helmut Qualtinger: “Moral indignation is the halo of hypocrites.“
Acting: Ida Golda, Lukas Haas, Saskia Klar, Jens Ole Schmieder, Martin Schwanda, Isabella Wolf
Director: Ira Süssenbach
Stage: Andreas Lungenschmid
Costumes: Antoaneta Stereva Di Brolio
Make-up: Henriette Zwölfer
Music: David Lipp
Lighting:
Assistant director:
Dramaturgy: Marie-Therese Handle-Pfeiffer
Text:
Version: Wortwiege
Performance rights: Thomas Sessler Publishing House
A production by Wortwiege, funded by the Province of Lower Austria and the City of Wiener Neustadt
Helmut Qualtinger
Born in 1928, the young Viennese was drafted as an anti-aircraft gunner towards the end of the war. He then began studying medicine and journalism, which he soon gave up in order to train as an actor as a guest student at the Max Reinhardt Seminar. Heimito von Doderer, a close friend of Qualtinger’s father, supported him in this endeavor. Qualtinger was soon working as a film and theater critic, but his first attempts to launch a career as an actor or playwright failed. His breakthrough came in 1951 with the new version of Schnitzler’s “Reigen”, which he brought to the stage together with his colleagues Merz, Kehlmann and Bronner. The quartet continued to work together successfully for a long time and published several sensational cabaret programs. The collaboration with Carl Merz in particular remained central to Qualtinger’s life. As an actor in film and theatre, author and cabaret artist, Qualtinger remains the epitome of the Viennese original, even after his death in 1986.
Carl Merz
Carl Merz, born in 1906 in Kronstadt, Romania, graduated from the Academy for International Trade in Vienna in 1928. He then studied at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts and tried his hand at his first dramatic texts. In 1931, he was engaged as an actor, director and dramaturge at the Deutsches Staatstheater in Hanover. He soon returned to Vienna, where he took over the management of the basement theatre “Lieber Augustin” (later “Theater der Courage”) until its founder Stella Kadmon returned from exile in 1947. Here he met Qualtinger, Bronner and Kehlmann, among others, with whom he founded the “nameless ensemble” and wrote several successful cabaret programs (“Brettl vor’m Kopf”, “Hackl vor’m Kreuz”, etc.). Together with Qualtinger, he wrote plays such as “Der Herr Karl” (1961) and “Die Hinrichtung” (1965). The duo is also known for the column “Blattl vor’m Mund” in the newspaper Kurier, which appeared every Saturday from 1955, and the “Travnicek-Dialoge”. Merz also worked for TV and radio and wrote screenplays, short stories and novels. He took his own life in 1979 after suffering two serious strokes.
Ira Süssenbach
The director grew up in Russia, but left the country in 2012 due to the political situation and moved to Austria. She first studied economics in Moscow and Vienna and then worked as a risk manager in the banking sector.
In 2023, she completed her directing studies at the Max Reinhardt Seminar with distinction. In 2024, she directed Sławomir Mrożek’s “Schlachthof – wir essen nur Karfiol” at the Wortwiege Festival and Christine Nöstlinger’s “Konrad oder Das Kind aus der Konservenbüchse” at Schauspielhaus Salzburg. In 2025, she played a key role in directing “Alles Gerettet” by Qualtinger/Merz. She is a founding member of the cultural association “Karfiolkollektiv”.
© Christian Mair
