Biografie: Ein Spiel
© Christina Baumann-Canaval

Biography: a game

Max Frisch

Premiere: 23 September 2022 / Oval – The Europark stage / Kammerspiele

Synopsis

What would you like to do differently in your biography? – Max Frisch sends off his protagonist Kürmann into a daring self-experiment: The behavioural scientist is given a chance to alter his biography retrospectively. He would especially like to undo his marriage to eccentric Antoinette. But whatever he tries, he seems unable to shake off his life story. With the help of a game master, situations are run through with changed initial parameters. A biography – life lived, life amassed – is put to the test: what if – and, especially, what if not …

“Not Kürmann’s biography, which is banal, but his grappling with the fact that each of us invariably obtains a biography over time is the theme of the play, which does not illusionistically present occurrences as actualities, but rather reflects them … It was intended as a comedy.” Max Frisch

Directed by Marco Dott, the play is first presented at the OVAL, the stage at the Europark shopping mall, before it is shown at the Kammerspiele stage of the Salzburg State Theatre.

The oeuvre of Max Frisch (1911–1991) frequently revolves around self-examination, the finding and asserting of one’s own identity, especially vis-à-vis the firmly fixed images upheld by others – the construction of one’s own biography. The stage adaptation of his work “Homo Faber” was a great success at the Salzburg State Theatre, running over several seasons.

Marco Dott works as an actor and author for the Salzburg State Theatre. As director in residence he has showcased his different styles in the Young Theatre division (“Momo”, “Heidi”, “Centre of My World”), the musical theatre division (“Hotel Europa”, “The Rocky Horror Show”, “Wiener Blut”, “Daphne” and many more) and the drama division (“Fury”, “The Force of Habit”).