Kaup-Hasler on the death of Karl Welunschek: "Important source of inspiration for the Viennese theater scene"

Vienna (OTS) – “Karl Welunschek was a theater maker of a very special kind. He succeeded in what was and remains important: getting people excited about the immediacy and power of the medium of theatre. Acted as a directorial miracle in the 1980s, Welunschek opened many doors. As a director and stage designer of absurd literature, folk plays and Nestroy productions, Karl Welunschek has been awarded the Kainz Medal several times,” says Vienna’s City Councilor for Culture, Veronica Kaup-Hasler, recalling the successes of the Viennese director, stage designer and theater manager who died unexpectedly.

“Karl Welunschek was an important source of inspiration for the Viennese theater landscape. Throughout his life he remained a founder who made his visions come true, be it with the Vienna Ensemble, as director of the Rabenhoftheater or with the first Austro-African drama ensemble Collective Les Nègres. But the classic theater space was too small for the innovative spirit of Karl Welunschek, in search of new staging spaces he became an exhibition organizer, he took photographs and was a stage designer. Central and south-eastern European art fascinated the ever curious, as did the works of Johann Nestroy, Werner Schwab and Wolfgang Bauer. My heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of the deceased.”