Mozart's town lures the avant-garde and classical
| Salzburg, Austria
Every year since 1920, a music festival in Mozart鈥檚 city attracts some of the world鈥檚 most accomplished classical performers. More recently, in an effort to attract younger audiences, on the 10th anniversary of the Young Directors Project, five groups from around the world descended on this luxuriously quaint Austrian town to premi猫re their avant-garde theater productions. The program was staged as a competition with this year鈥檚 prize set at 鈧�10,000 (roughly $14,500).
Among the competitors was the Scandinavian/Austrian performance troupe SIGNA, named after its creator, Signa K枚stler. Their play, 鈥淒as ehemalige Haus鈥� (鈥淭he Former House鈥�), put audience members into the midst of the action.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to have rooms where the audience is so close,鈥� Ms. K枚stler says.
The play is about a criminal gang that smuggles Eastern European women into Austria in order to sell them as illegal prostitutes. Visitors followed a mythological creature through a decrepit house as characters rose from the dead to tell their stories.
This year鈥檚 winner was 鈥淪ymphony of a Missing Room,鈥� an interactive performance from London in which audience members donned wireless headphones and were led by actors on an unusual 鈥減ersonal journey鈥� through Salzburg鈥檚 Museum of Modern Art.
