ODEON’s 25th anniversary

The Serapions Ensemble is performing something special at the ODEON Theater – “Scenic Poetry” is the catchword, a stirring interplay of free acting, dance, music and text, thrillingly complemented by great costumes and painting. This promises to be a special kind of cultural experience, one not to be missed.

The SERAPIONS ENSEMBLE is not your typical theater ensemble

PaRaDiSo 2 © Odeon, Nick Albert

The Serapions Ensemble express themselves primarily with visual means, making their performances universally comprehensible. Free acting, dance in the broadest sense, music, text and fine arts are combined in an unmistakable manner into something that might be called “scenic poetry.”

The members of the Serapions Ensemble come from different countries, have different roots and different training. Developing a member according to his or her individual possibilities and bringing his or her abilities into the ensemble render possible the full impression and the emotional mood that are meant be transmitted to the audience.

Painting and costumes also play an important role in the Serapions Ensemble’s work. Thanks to a sophisticated system of reversible costume parts, which can be arranged differently by the actors themselves using only a few hand movements, metamorphoses on the open stage are possible. In their own way, the costumes thereby play a role in telling the story.

The very special allure of the Serapions Ensemble works, which remain in the audience’s memory for many years, results from the fusion of these visual means with music, dance and acting.

 “P a R a D i S o”

 A wall made of bags blocks the view.
The wall collapses and an inaccessible desert forms.
The impossibility of moving in this desert initially leads to despair.
From despair comes impotent rage.
New hope follows rage.
In hope, the desert dissolves.
The room becomes free for everybody to move.
Initially there are just two people who take the initiative.
Ultimately, everyone is moving together, yet they are tied into strict shapes.
Self-sufficient shapes that are ultimately absorbed into chaos.
Only the idea of a future possibility loosens the connection.
The leitmotiv initially found has entwined itself, serpent-like, into a ball
that no one needs to untangle.
In the garden of the arts, everyone can now move freely.

PaRaDiSo_Copyright_BradHolland

As a bridge between the real and the ideal, art is one of the last paradises in people’s lives. Discover, together with the Serapions Ensemble, the poetic world of dance, music, painting and literature in one of Vienna’s most beautiful theater venues!

In its new work, the Serapions Ensemble tells of the metamorphosis from numbness and dullness of the material via cognition and recognition through to inspiration, to the recreation of a world in and through interplay. The theme is also reflected in the way the title “PaRaDiSo” is written. It is derived from the Hebrew, where the individual letters of the alphabet all have their own meaning: The consonants refer, among other things, to the material, visible, and the (normally unwritten) vowels to the spiritual, audible and palpable.

“PaRaDiSo” was freely developed by the internationally composed Serapions Ensemble, directed by Ulrike Kaufmann and Erwin Piplits. Erwin Piplits came up with the idea and is responsible for the music montages. The stage was designed by Ulrike and Max Kaufmann, and the costumes are by Ulrike Kaufmann. For designing the poster, the Serapions Ensemble was once again able to win the support of renowned New York illustrator Brad Holland.

The ODEON Theater

The ODEON – a “theatrical pearl” in Vienna’s 2nd District

The ODEON in Vienna’s 2nd District is one of Vienna’s most beautiful theaters. It was built in the classical style of the Italian Renaissance at the end of the 19th century and was originally the large hall of the agricultural products exchange. However, the exchange was destroyed by a fire during the final days of the war in 1945 and remained unused for years. In 1988, it was ultimately adapted into an auditorium by Ulrike Kaufmann and Erwin Piplits, and since then it has been the established venue of the Serapions Ensembles, which they founded. The “ruins” character was preserved during the renovation, which among other things also contributes to the auditorium’s special atmosphere. With its columns, the auditorium is reminiscent of a temple and is constructed in the style of the “Odeion” of antiquity, which was a roofed venue for music and dance performances. For this reason the theater was named the Odeon.

Hotel Stefanie

Culture & culinary arts = ODEON & Hotel Stefanie

The beautiful rooms of the ODEON and the agricultural products exchange, as well as its immediate proximity to the SCHICK Hotel Stefanie (Taborstrasse 12) also account for the positive collaboration that has existed for many years. The ODEON Theater is where the SCHICK Hotels present their annual “Schick Event,” to which top customers and partners are invited. Catering for all sorts of occasions has already been organized at this top location.

It was an obvious choice to reconvene for the new production of “P a R a D i S o.” To get in the right mood for the evening at the theater, the Hotel Stefanie is offering your choice of the following at the café bar Stefanie:

Theater Special – savoury “Delicacies from the water”
Smoked and pickled salmon, smoked fillet of trout and terrine,
with horseradish cream and leaf salads

or

Theater Special – savoury “Variation of ham”
Air-dried raw Vulcano ham, rolls of turkey ham in basil coating
and ham crescent, with herb-sour cream and leaf salads

EUR 13.50 per person
incl. 1 glass of sparkling wine or 1/3 l beer or 1 non-alcoholic drink of your choice

For “sweet tooths,” there is the:

Theater Special “Sweet”
Homemade apple strudel with vanilla sauce,
pétits fours and seasonal fruit mousse in the glass

EUR 10.90 per person
incl. 1 coffee or tea of your choice

An extra bonus for winding down the evening is also available: Upon presenting or handing over your admission ticket, you’ll receive a 15% rebate on drinks at the café bar Stefanie after the performance (for a maximum of 4 persons per admission ticket).

Now there’s nothing standing between you and a successful evening at the theater with art and the culinary arts.

Performances:
6 – 18 December, and again starting 26 December 2013,
daily, except Sunday and Monday, 8 PM.
Expected to play until April 2014.
(For current dates and times, see www.odeon-theater.at)

Ticket reservation:
Tel.: 01 / 216 51 27
www.odeon-theater.at

ODEON, Taborstrasse 10, 1020 Vienna
Hotel STEFANIE, Taborstrasse 12, 1020 Vienna

Photo credits © www.odeon-theater.at