Anna Lukasser-Weitlaner

Head of Junges Land / Theatre Educator / Director

SLT / Christian Krautzberger

Born in 1990 in the Alpine region of Lienz, Anna Lukasser-Weitlaner studied Theatre, Film and Media Studies (B.A.) at the University of Vienna from 2009 to 2012. Inspired by practical experiences and seminars, the East Tyrolean moved to the far north to complete a Master’s degree in Theatre Education at the hmt Rostock. A student exchange in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, proved formative for her artistic and pedagogical approach. Together with two fellow students, she developed her master’s project — a site-specific promenade performance on the theme "The Foreign," staged in the university’s historic rooms.

"Next stop: Berlin!" After graduation, she worked as a freelance theatre educator and project manager in diverse artistic, social, and socio-cultural contexts — from school and youth theatre workshops to dance-theatre projects and the leadership of the social-space experiment "Creating Transitions."

Two and a half years later, her path led to Salzburg. In the 2016/17 season, she began her first engagement as a theatre educator and dramaturge at the Salzburg State Theatre. Turning classrooms into stages, bringing theatre to every corner of the region, creating artistic spaces for people of all ages, and expanding the already diverse theatre education programme were key focuses of her work.

Since the 2021/22 season, she has been the artistic director of the "Junges Land" division. With her own stage adaptation of "The Weight of Water," she made her directing debut in 2023/24, followed by the interactive crime play "Happs und weg!," co-written with Angela Beyerlein. During a one-year advanced training stay in Berlin, specialising in Physical Theatre, the musical "Skiverliebt – Zwei Brettln, die die Welt bedeuten" premiered, for which she co-wrote the dialogues. Since returning, she has shared the artistic leadership of "Junges Land" with Christiane Silberhumer.

Alongside her work at the Salzburg State Theatre, Anna Lukasser-Weitlaner is active as a freelance director, performer, poetry slammer, and cultural educator. In 2019, she was runner-up at the Salzburg/Upper Austria Poetry Slam Championships. She also serves as chairwoman of NEKUDAK ("Network for Cultural Education in the Performing Arts"), advocating for cultural visibility and structural support in her field.

In short: Anna Lukasser-Weitlaner jumps, writes, hikes, reads, dances, and talks her way through life.

Last updated: October 2025