deutsche version

o r t s z e i t have been working as a site-specific theatre group for 15 years. Its longest ongoing research and theatre action took place in the Austrian mountain village of Leogang from 2006 to 2013, with the whole group spending three to four months in the village every year.

From historic research, interviews with villagers, site exploration and the like, two trilogies have been developed. Taking place from the top of the mountain at 1.914 meters to a quarry and down into an old silver mine underground; from the hidden forests to the village's busiest main road; from the interior of an old farmhouse to the church - the plays have covered most parts of the extended village and its surroundings.

The plays have been widely acclaimed by the press and the inhabitants of the village as well as by visitors from cities like Salzburg, Munich and Vienna and have received a number of awards. Bringing together an unusually heterogeneous audience, the plays have been much more than theatre productions: They have turned into a social and cultural intervention that has changed many people's notion about cultural hegemony and history.

ERZGANG



linking myth and history of the local mining industry with the universal narrative of man's clash with nature; taking place in a medieval silver mine.

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PROTESTANTEN!



the expulsion of Protestant Christians by the Catholic authorities in the 18th century; taking place on the village main road and in the church.

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IM WALD



an encounter with archetypal nature spirits; taking place in a clearing on top of a mountain - sometimes at dusk, sometimes at dawn.

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DIE EUMENIDEN



the Greek Oresteia, a tragedy leading to a various killings - until nature takes revenge; happening in an abandoned quarry in the mountains.

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IM DORF



a historic incident from World War II, in which two prisoners of war have been killed in the village; taking place in and around its centre.

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