Der Weibsteufel

Director Martin Kušej has already shown us in “Glaube und Heimat” how to direct the once popular blood and earth dramas of Tirolean author Karl Schönherr: coldly expressive, without an excess of emotion, in a single strong scene. The 1914 play “Der Weibsteufel” [The Devil Woman] tells a very simple story: a young couple live in a mountain hut near the border, make a living from smuggling, and plan to build a house in the valley, only their wish for a child is not fulfilled. A border guard comes to the house: the husband wants the wife to distract him. The wife suddenly lights up, she starts imagining a life and a child with this attractive newcomer. When he leaves, the disappointed wife sets the two men against each other. In the end, her husband has been stabbed to death, the border guard is tried and she is left with the money. An installation of huge interlinked tree trunks is all that designer Martin Zehetgruber has given the actors Birgit Minichmayr, Werner Wölbern and Nicholas Ofczarek to work with. Climbing and balancing while delivering perfect fake Tirolean, the trio carry off a ritual of stalking, acrobatics, love and hate. And thanks to the wonderful Birgit Minichmayr this “Devil Woman” even becomes a story of emancipation.