"Elisabeth II."

A curmudgeonly farewell to the Kleines Theater

Cassandra Rühmling (center) slips into the role of the grumpy Herrenstein for her farewell performance.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Director Cassandra Rühmling brings the play "Elisabeth II" to the stage of the Kleines Theater to mark the 35th anniversary of Thomas Bernhard's death. For her personal farewell, she slips into the role of Herrenstein: "A challenge!"

"For me as a German woman, it's quite a challenge to play an Austrian old man," laughs actress and director Cassandra Rühmling. What's more, it's not about embodying just any man - but the grumpy industrial magnate Herrenstein: 87 years old, arms dealer and confined to a wheelchair since an accident.

He despises the society around him and merely observes it from his balcony. This is how Thomas Bernhard created the main character of his penultimate play "Elisabeth II". Cassandra Rühmling is now bringing the play to the stage of the Kleines Theater to mark the 35th anniversary of Bernhard's death.

The Queen's visit to Vienna triggers Herrenstein's reckoning with society. At least Griesgram Herrenstein has nice clothes: costumes from the Salzburg Festival and traditional Gössl costumes are used on stage. Theater maker stays out of the mainstreamProbably for the last time, because: It will be Cassandra Rühmling's last production at the Kleines Theater. "After that, I'll be moving on elsewhere," she reveals in an interview with the Krone.

The German theatre-maker's commitment to topics outside the mainstream will remain the same: "My aim with the plays I choose is always to sensitize the audience and show them possibilities." The play "Elisabeth II" premieres on Saturday, October 12, 7.30 pm.