GESCHLOSSENE GESELLSCHAFT

Inès, Estelle, and Garcin have only conjectures as to why they ended up together in this particular hell: an interior without windows or mirrors. Walled in towering high, visited only occasionally by a quirky waiter. An outside? There is none here. Even the eyelids are numb; the place threatens with perpetual wakefulness, without the redeeming “black flashes“ of blinking. Why were these three people, who have never met in real life, crammed together here? What guilt brought them here? Do they already hold the instruments of torture for the others in their hands, without knowing it?

Jean-Paul Sartre's classic existentialist work, premiered in 1944 in Paris under Nazi rule, is not only a key work for understanding Sartre's philosophy of freedom, which revolves around the question of how the gaze of others defines us against our will. CLOSED SOCIETY is also a play about uncertainty, about being confined and isolated, about an altered perception of time that casts a leaden heap over people and things in a present stretched into eternity. In this respect, it contains valuable wisdom that we surprisingly rediscover when looking back on the past years.

duration: 2 hours - no interval

program

Geschlossene Gesellschaft
von Jean-Paul Sartre
Deutsch von Traugott König

Place

Wiener Burgtheater – The Stage of Great Drama and Timeless Classics

The Wiener Burgtheater, often referred to as Austria’s "first stage," is one of the most prestigious and influential German-speaking theaters in Europe. Founded in 1741, it has shaped the theatrical landscape for centuries, standing for artistic excellence, literary classics, and contemporary productions.

Located on Vienna’s Ringstrasse, the Burgtheater is not only an architectural masterpiece but also a place where great playwrights such as Goethe, Schiller, Shakespeare, Arthur Schnitzler, Thomas Bernhard, and Elfriede Jelinek come to life through groundbreaking performances. With its renowned ensemble and innovative direction, the theater masterfully combines tradition with modernity, captivating thousands of theatergoers every year.

Getting There by Public Transport

Subway:

• U2 – Rathaus station (approx. 5-minute walk)

• Lines 1, D, 71 – Rathausplatz/Burgtheater stop
• Lines 2, 46 – Dr.-Karl-Renner-Ring stop

• Line 13A – Theater in der Josefstadt stop (approx. 10-minute walk)