GS: Reading: Matthias Hartmann

Why Theater is a fitness center for the Imagination. How the magic of theater stages can be revived. How an industry of meaning arose—fueled by cultural policy and critics—that has led many theaters into crisis.

This book is a love letter from former Burgtheater director Matthias Hartmann to theater, to the audience, and to the theater city of Vienna. It is also an attempt to explain why he was dismissed for exposing an accounting scandal at the Burgtheater and only fully rehabilitated years later. Investigative journalist Rainer Fleckl documents the chronology of the scandal in the book’s appendix with detailed facts and evidence.

About the author:
Matthias Hartmann was born in 1963 in Osnabrück. Initially a rising star on the German-speaking theater scene, he took over directorships in Bochum, Zurich, and in 2009 the Burgtheater. After irregularities in accounting were discovered, he was removed from office in 2014 and fully rehabilitated in 2018. Today, Matthias Hartmann works as Creative Director at Red Bull Media House, developing concepts including for TV series. As a director, he primarily stages operas in Italy—at La Scala in Milan, Teatro della Pergola in Florence, and in Genoa.

Publication date: October 15, 2024

Publisher: ECOWING