Alma á Venezia

"Alma á Venezia" is the story of Alma Mahler-Werfel, the wife of composer
Gustav Mahler, also married to architect Walter Gropius and poet Franz Werfel. Among several others she had fervent love affairs with the painters Oskar Kokoschka and Gustav Klimt, bringing together some of the most creative spirits
of the 20th century.

The speciality of the play is that it does not take place on a theatre stage, but in an entire building (the Palazzo Zenobio in Venice), fully equipped with furniture and props which resemble more the location of a film than a stage design.

From July-September 2002 the show will be produced in Venice as "Alma á
Venezia" (25 performances, from August 8th till September 15th).

The guests will be invited to abandon the immobilized position of a spectator in a conventional drama, replace it with the mobile activity of a traveller, and watch a so-called "theatrical journey", since the scenes of Alma's life are performed simultaneously on all floors and in all rooms of the building. You choose the events, the path, and the person to follow after each event, thus constructing your personal version of a Polydrama.

When Gustav Mahler dies at half-time, his funeral banquet can be followed
interactively to his music, and the spectators are subsequently invited to a sumptuous buffet-dinner, which of course is included in the ticket prize.

Based on the internationality of the play, reflecting half a century of European cultural history, it is certain to attract tourists and locals at the same time. As it will be performed in English it can be reviewed internationally. But since some scenes will even be in Italian, also the Italian audience will be able to follow the story.

The Viennese production of the play for the Vienna Festival Week has been such a tremendous success that the idea rose to bring it to another city, and Venice will be without any doubt the ideal place. Alma lived here for a long time at Casa Mahler near the Frari church, making Venice to the second important city of her life.

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