Fluss, stromaufwärts (World Premiere)

//Exil-DramatikerInnenpreis 2018

Tino, whose name is actually Toni, Effie, a fancy lady of around 70 or 122 years of age and Lachs (Salmon): These are three characters presented in Alexandra Pâzgu’s theatre text, which won the award for exile literature “Schreiben zwischen den Kulturen (Writing between Cultures)” at the 2018 book fair “Buch Wien” in the category drama.

The author puts Tino, a Romanian translator, right into the thick of present-day European discursive currents about migration, integration and identity. Like a salmon, her protagonist swims against the current. And then a real Salmon shows up – in a similarly fluid state as Tino’s lines of thought. Tino has put down roots both in the Romanian and the German language region. He is both searching and driven, and he is a member of a still young generation who grew up without the Cold War and are nevertheless permanently faced with its consequences.

Alexandra Pâzgu’s commentary on this discourse and her scenic experimental arrangement are both thoughtful and entertaining. In a very direct sense, it deals with the issue of translating, of living and writing between cultures, while playfully challenging the devices of contemporary theatre.

WIENER WORTSTAETTEN, an intercultural dramatists’ theatre project that promotes exchange and networking among Austrian and international playwrights, has been awarding the Exil-DramatikerInnenpreis since 2007. In 2018, the award was tendered in cooperation with Schauspiel Leipzig for the first time. In future, it will be awarded biannually, with the award-winning play to be premiered at Schauspiel Leipzig during the following year.

Alexandra Pâzgu was born in Sibiu, Romania, in 1985 and lives in Vienna, where she works as a freelance writer and dramaturg. “Fluss, stromaufwärts” was developed as part of the Hans-Gratzer-Stipendium at Schauspiel Wien and is the third part of a poetic and philosophical trilogy about life in European cities.

Director Gordon Krämer has already staged several world premiere productions at Schauspiel Leipzig’s Diskothek: “Das Tierreich” by Nolte Decar, “der herzerlfresser” by Ferdinand Schmalz and “Wolfserwartungsland” by Florian Wacker. His production of Bernhard Studlar’s “Nacht ohne Sterne” will continue to be part of the repertory.