1. Introduction (Dagmar Höfferer)

As far as theatre education is concerned, Austria offers a variety of forms of experience – artistically, socially and pedagogically. In what follows five authors from different backgrounds in theatre education will attempt to illustrate this landscape.

This report has been quite a challenging process as the authors came together without any prior extensive discussion on the topic and also had to express themselves in a foreign language. Some of the authors are well-known in the Austrian landscape of Performative Arts and Pedagogy; others were invited to participate in this project and comment from a non-Austrian position. The observations from a non-Austrian perspective are highly appreciated and underline the necessity of further systematic development in the area Performing Arts and Pedagogy in Austria, for example by designing both short and long-term courses for theatre pedagogues who wish to develop professional expertise in specific areas.

Each section of this report has been written by another person. The authors' different and partly also overlapping perspectives give the readers a first impression of the complex Austrian Performative Arts and Pedagogy landscape. All of the authors are experienced in the field of teaching drama and theatre; their perspectives are based on personal experience within specific professional contexts. Even though quite challenging, working on this report has been a worthwile process for us, and we hope to continue to take stock of past and present developments in the area of Performative Arts and Pedagogy in Austria. However, we see the need to expand our collaboration to arrive at an even fuller, more comprehensive description of the Performative Arts and Pedagogy landscape in Austria.

2. The Country Report as a Work in Progress (Ulrike Hatzer)

To come up with a country report was a difficult procedure for the Austrian ‘stand-up-delegation’ of the international Glossary-Conference in Cork, as no Austrian group had existed before. As Michael Wrentschur from the University in Graz and a founding member of the initiative group InterACT could not come to Cork, he and colleagues from Germany started to mobilize Austrian researchers and practitioners with a specific interest in the building of bridges between the performative arts and pedagogy. Thus a delegation was formed, some of the members had already known each other, and others had not. The results were two very constructive online-conferences and several e-mails between the members of the Austrian ‘group in development’ prior to meeting in Cork for the first time as a group. Until then, we had formulated abstracts of our impressions on the Austrian Performative Arts and Pedagogy scene and exchanged opinions as a basic preparation for the online conferences. In Cork we put faces to the abstracts and, together with our international colleagues, started a discourse about the different aspects of and attitudes about this wide and diverse field of Theatre in Education / Drama & Community / Theaterpädagogik / Drama in Education / Applied Theatre / Performative Arts in Context, etc.

We still have a long way to go, but consider this report as an important step on our way to describe the rich Austrian landscape of performative arts in different contexts, including the key terminology used in these contexts. As authors we have decided to view this report as a joint project, but also felt we should present it as a ‘many-voiced’ text that reflects the authors' different individual approaches and perspectives. Furthermore we decided to begin this report by outlining its challenging genesis to emphasise the point that the lack of professional umbrella organisations in Austria meant we had no institution or organisation we could turn to for support or commitment.

2.1. Views on Austria, the Performing Arts and Pedagogy

Austria is, despite of Vienna and four or five smaller cities like Linz, Graz, Klagenfurt, Salzburg with about 100.000 to 200.000 inhabitants, a rural country. While in Germany institutions like the Federal Organisation for Youth Education (bkj), the Federal Academy for Cultural Education Wolfenbuettel (ba), or regional academies for teacher education etc. were established as an answer to what happened in Germany during the Second World War, this did not happen in Austria. As Austria right after the war was regarded and regarded itself as the first victim of the Nazi regime, the foundation of those institutions as instruments of democratization of the society and its administration did not take place. Comparable umbrella organisations do not exist, but remain an aspiration for those who give shape to the field today.

Performing arts in religious rituals and popular theatre etc. were – especially in rural areas – an important cultural instrument and never an object of professionalisation. Consequently, the tradition of doing theatre is an important historical heritage and leads to an understanding of theatre being, until today, accessible to everyone. The necessity of a special discipline (like theatre pedagogy) was and perhaps is not that relevant for a vivid theatre practice in diverse contexts. Moreover, the different rusticities have been creating different structures of communities and cultural life.

2.2. What Can Be Seen from My Outside Position? – Overview of Institutions, Organisations and Cooperations, Offering Programmes, Studies and Courses

This chapter is a personal view on details in the Austrian landscape of Performative Arts and Pedagogy and shows the efforts of establishing organisations dealing with drama and theatre. There is a variety of study programmes, including programme-specific certifications, however, I am not aware of any overview of all the existing different programmes and courses in the Performative Arts and Pedagogy field.

The lack of representation at institutional/association level reflects the fact that those of us who aim to develop the field further have as yet no political voice, and the lack of internal reflection and development means that there are no transparent, nationally and internationally recognised quality standards yet.

In my short research, nevertheless, I found two institutions which take some responsibility of the topic. One institution is Assitej Austria. Its main focus is on theatre for kids by professional artists. They run a programme which is called Masterclass Theaterpädagogik, but this term is just the name of a workshop for professional artists and theatre pedagogues. It is no Master in the sense of attending or graduating from a training programme.

In 1997 the Österreichisches Institut für Theaterpädagogik was set up by the Federal Ministry for Education and Cultural Affairs, but did not continue to exist for a long period, which can be seen as indicative for the erratic situation within the Performative Arts and Pedagogy field in Austria.

With quality standards similar to those used by the Bundesverband Theaterpädagogik in Germany, there would be discussions and reflections about the discipline itself, a debate about what we are doing and scope for further development and exploration (for artists as well as for pedagogues).

The good news is however: When nobody asks for standards, there is a lot of freedom for development and innovation. And indeed, the ability and willingnness to cooperate seems to be extraordinarily high in Austria – perhaps a positive result of a scene which is not nationally regulated.

The following examples may help to illustrate this: There are organisations calling themselves Institut – like Institut Angewandtes Theater (IFANT) or Institut für Sozialpädagogik Stams. They set their specific focus and define their own standards; for this reason, the quality of both of these programmes are not comparable to each other.

There are few associations cooperating with the German Bundesverband Theaterpädagogik (BUT) in order to have their graduates certified. I can see the call for certification growing, as well as the need for a discussion what could and should be an Austrian approach to it.

There are organisations like AGB or SpectACT who offer BUT-certified courses in Theatre Pedagogy mainly for social and political fields, which the participants have to pay for. Other organisations offer trainings and in cooperation with Colleges, University Colleges of Teacher Education or professional associations (for example Assitej). They call themselves professional theatres even though they really are theatre pedagogical centers, e.g. the Theater am Ortweinplatz, Graz, as part of ÖBV Theater, Landesverband Steiermark (called LAUT!).

Looking at all these different approaches to Education in Drama & Theatre Pedagogy, I see a wide range of theatrical understandings with different combinations of aesthetic and processual outcomes.

2.3. Last But Not Least: Universities

In Austria there is a difference between Lehrgänge (courses students have to pay for, whose standards are not controlled by any meta-structure, and not necessarily accessible to BA or MA programmes of other universities), and Studium (university studies whose quality standards are controlled by academic bodies and whose programmes are obliged to realise the curriculum, usually without fees).

There are a few courses (called Lehrgänge) with different emphases, e.g. Bruckner University in Linz, which focuses on actors, or Theaterpädagogik at the KPH Wien/Krems, which gives an insight into various aspects of drama and theatre. In autumn 2019, the University Mozarteum started an international Master Programme Applied Theatre – Artistic Practice and Society, which is a regular course of studies, so the graduates obtain certification.

3. “History” of Theaterpädagogik in Austria – Different Story Lines and Narratives (Michael Wrentschur)

There have been different sources, story lines and narratives regarding the development of Theaterpädagogik in Austria: One of them is connected with youth theatre like Theater der Jugend in Vienna² or Theaterpädagogisches Zentrum Graz³. Another is linked to the Lehrstückspiel, a creation by Reiner Steinweg (Steinweg 1995), who offered trainings in Austria, and to Augusto Boal, who was in Austria several times and whose “Theatre of Oppressed“ inspired a lot of forum theatre groups, network and courses.⁴ Theaterpädagogik is also connected to an Austrian-wide movement and to organisations of Theatre with/by Amateurs (OEBV)⁵ or the Austrian section of IDEA (International Drama /Theatre and Education Association) and the International Drama in Education Conference, organised biannually by IDEA Austria. Moreover, Theaterpädagogik has a history in the stately theatre houses like in Graz, Linz, Bregenz as well as in the off-scene.

I am sure that there are some more narratives with different ways to understand the background of Performing Arts and Pedagogy in Austria. Currently, I see the situation as follows.

Fragmented Scenery, Competition and/or non-Perception

From my experience and perspective these different narratives and developments have led to strongly fragmented scenarios and contexts, which often do not have contact with each other, which sometimes claim the “sole right of representation“ or/and which are in a more or less unvoiced competition regarding the economic, symbolic and social resources. And this is connected to tensions between more artistic or/and more educational self-conception, more product-oriented or/and more process-oriented approaches, and more social and/or political perspectives. For the various contexts and organisational forms in which Theaterpädagog*innen, applied theatre activists and facilitators work, there is no professional umbrella organisation or platform representing all the professional expertise and interests.

Various Courses, Training Opportunities and Study Programmes but NO regular University Studies

In advanced education lots of fee paying courses, trainings and fields of study can be found; some are more focused on the socio-pedagogical side, some are more focused on the artistic side, and some are only linked to Universities of Applied Studies.⁶. At the moment there is only one university study programme in Applied Theatre at Salzburg University of Performing Art (see Ulrike Hatzer's section).

No Ongoing Research, Academic and/or Professional Discourse

From my personal view it must be said that in Austria there is a lack of continuous professional and academic discourse and/or research on Theaterpädagogik with its different approaches, histories, practices, effects, impacts etc. Although there have been some case studies, master and doctoral theses at different universities, it is obvious that more can be done – and this would support all the activities in the field of Theaterpädagogik.

4. Theatre/Drama in Schools and in Educational Contexts (Dagmar Höfferer and Julia Köhler)

This chapter deals with theatre and drama in the field of pedagogy, which does not only pertain to teachers but also to people in pedagogical professions (such as leisure educators, social educators, people in the field of medical education) who use theatre methods for their work.

4.1. Theatre as a Subject – Theatre/Drama as a Didactic Approach in Schools

Working with theatre in school has a very long tradition in Austria, but ‘theatre as a subject’ does not generally exist – except in some schools with an autonomous curriculum. Unlike in Germany, where theatre as a compulsory subject has become established as a third artistic subject in several states (beside music and visual arts), in Austria theatre – if at all on the curriculum – is usually included in the series of non-obligatory extra-curricular activities or elective subjects. If integrated into the curriculum, this is mostly due to the commitment of individual school principals or teachers who have understood the educational value of theatre.

In Austria, uniform decisions by the school authorities to embed theatre in the curriculum are still pending. The second interim report on the Future of Schools published in 2008 by the Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture contains recommendations on cultural education in the school context.⁷ With regard to the low significance of art and culture in Austrian schools (cf. second interim report 2008: 90), explicit reference is made to the educational effects of theatre in schools, but a non-binding recommendation remains to understand theatrical learning as a principle tied to all subjects and not to establish it as an independent subject.

Therefore, the establishment of theatre as a school subject remains a challenge, while theatre as a didactic approach is increasingly used in schools, as a different way of learning, as a method of holistic education, as a way of integrating emotions into the learning process.

4.2. Curricular Requirements

Visual Arts Education and Musical Education are part of the curriculum, Handicraft Lessons (Werken; technisches / textiles Werken) are established in primary school (Sek I / 10 to 14 years) and secondary school (Sek. II, students from 14 to 18 years). In secondary school students in 11th and 12th grade have to choose between Visual Arts Education and Musical Education.

The curriculum of the Elementary School of 2012 contains, in brief, the educational and teaching tasks of the extra-curricular activity Darstellendes Spiel. The curriculum of the general special school (for children with specific needs) also regards the subject of drama as a non-compulsory activity “in authorization for school-autonomous curriculum provisions” (curriculum of the general special school, Annex C1 2008)⁸. In an excerpt of the curriculum of the AHS (Allgemeinbildende höhere Schule, a type of a secondary school), the subject "drama" is found in the list of optional subjects and extra-curricular activities: "Drama is a creative process that must involve all pupils. The cooperation also extends to preparatory work such as the procurement and production of props, stage sets, posters or invitations.”⁹

Certain upper secondary schools with specific curricula offer theatre/drama as a subject that can be chosen for A-level exams (called Matura/Reifeprüfung) in Austria. There is no general information with regard to establishing such curricula, and rather diverse approaches are accepted by the Ministry of Education. Teachers who teach theatre as a subject for A-level exams are slowly beginning to exchange their ideas and experiences. In general, however, there is a lack of professional dialogue between theatre teachers. One reason for this could be that there is no official university education for theatre teachers in Austria and thus no prior networking opportunities. The extent to which theatre is taught as a third artistic subject still depends solely on the commitment of individual schools, principals and teachers who choose to get additional professional training.

Most vocational colleges (= Berufsbildende Schulen, from 9th to 13th grade) and vocational schools (Berufs- und Polytechnische Schulen, accompanying practical job training from 9th grade upwards) do not offer any art-education-based subjects apart from the Secondary School for Fashion (Höhere Lehranstalt für Mode), the Secondary School for Artistic Design (Höhere Lehranstalt für künstlerische Gestaltung), the Secondary School for Tourism (Höhere Lehranstalt für Tourismus), the Secondary School for Economic Professions and Colleges for early childhood pedagogy. However, those that do offer some arts-based courses (varying by the type of school) usually do not work specifically with theatre. There are some subjects where theatre work can be integrated as a didactic approach (i.e. German Language & Literature/Social Competence & Personal Development (in Vocational Colleges); Creative Design/Communication are some of the names of creative subjects in Vocational Colleges).

In contrast, some upper secondary level forms of Gymnasium (AHS/High School) place specific emphasis on the arts in the curriculum or focus specifically theatrical, musical or visual arts.

Educational and teaching responsibilities (“Bildungs- und Lehraufgaben”) in the curriculum of all kinds of school types allow the teacher to work with theatrical skills in many subjects, even increasingly in so-called “MINT-subjects” (Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaft und Technik), which can be compared to the English STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

In the last years the amount of research for principles of teaching, didactics and methodology has been increasing, because a number of master studies have been established (for example Master Studies in Vienna/Krems, Linz, Innsbruck, etc.). These studies are an additional professional qualification option, but quite expensive and without a guarantee for a teaching job in theatre or in schools. In the last two years nearly all colleges of teacher education have started to offer workshop series dealing with Theaterpädagogik and drama skills to work with children and young people. While such workshops are without doubt beneficial, the aim should be to provide theatre teachers with adequate academic training opportunities.

4.3. Four Ways to Teach Theatre as a Subject – Theatre/Drama as a Didactic Approach in School

With theatre not being a regular subject in Austrian schools, four ways of teaching theatre can be identified, against the background that theatre has to compete for subject space in the curriculum with with science and language subjects, sports (and others).

UUE (“Unverbindliche Übung“) is an extra-curricular activity in primary and secondary schools. Taking part is voluntary and attendance not mandatory.

WPF (“Wahlpflichtfach”) is an obligatory elective in the 6th to 8th class (10th to 12th grade). If students choose this subject for two or three years, they are entitled to take A-level exams in this subject at the end of 12th grade. However, a “Wahlpflichtfach“ in lower secondary school is an elective with no specific exam.

Autonomous Changes of the Curriculum: A school can decide to change a number of teaching subjects and choose different content to be obligatory. Any modifications have to be confirmed by all the teachers and by SGA (= Schulgemeinschaftsausschuss;” a council of nine people consisting of teachers, parents and students who are in charge of important decisions concerning their school) and by the “Bildungsdirektion”, the provincial board of education. New curricula have to be written to create an autonomous type of school with an artistic focus. It is a way of school development (“Schulentwicklung”). Many of those special types of schools are very successful; they often have enormously creative output shown in stagings, various productions, collaborations with professional theatres and artists. But there are only few of those schools in every federal state. A lot of other schools work with a lot of ambition and dedication, too, but without any federal resources.

Projects: For a limited period of time groups or classes work together with artists, with professional theatres, participating in contests and in festivals, etc. Some organisations offer funding programmes for projects (such as KulturKontakt Austria). Project work with professionals is – together with drama / theatre teaching as a method in nearly all subjects – the most frequent way of teaching the performing arts.

Some schools cooperate with professional theatres, sometimes for a longer period (e.g. Burgtheater, Volkstheater in Vienna, stages of the provincial capitals such as Landestheater in Salzburg, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Styria, the Tyrol, Vorarlberg).

Even schools without an autonomous focus on the subject Theater work regularly in a cultural context. The National Center of Competence for Cultural Education¹⁰ (formerly ZSK = National Center for Cultural Work in Schools) calls for participation in KuBi-Tage (Days of Cultural Education)¹¹ starting with the Aktionstag in 2016, followed by KuBi-Tage in 2018 and 2019, which allowed creative school projects in the cultural fields to be visible all over Austria, portrayed on the website of ZSK/NCoC.

4.4. Connecting with Different Traditions

In Austrian debates focusing on the Performative Arts and Pedagogy reference is often made to different traditions, including especially Drama in Edcuation (Dramapädagogik). Drama in Education is influenced by the Educational Drama of Dorothy Heathcote and successors. About 40 or 50 years ago, some English teachers brought drama techniques for learning like “Teacher in Role“ and “Mantle of Expert“ to Austria, and disseminated a wide range of drama conventions in many teacher training workshops.

Process Drama / Drama pedagogy originated from the foreign language subject tradition. Various conceptual disputes between theatre and drama pedagogy are due to the fact that in practice there is rather a sub-theoretical methodological eclecticism and few theoretically elaborated concepts and empirical research, so that further foundation and research of theatre pedagogical processes seem necessary. Even if theatre pedagogy in the German-speaking context is divided into different terms, it nevertheless follows some basic principles in school-work: The playful confrontation with the world in a sanction-free space enables experiences that can contribute to building up and consolidating knowledge. Unlike in the professional theatre the performance of a play is often not the primary objective, rather the drama-/theatre-related pedagogical process itself. This implies that teachers often be caught between artistic demands and pedagogical tasks.

4.5. Empowerment of Teachers

Schools have been very creative in terms of labeling the kind of theatre practice in their institution. A very old one is Playing on Stage. The official term in the school system is Darstellendes Spiel, which combines performing arts and play. Other terms include: Theater, Kulturwerkstatt, Bewegung & Gestalten, Sprechtheater, Musiktheater. Often, other areas of artistic practice are linked to theatre work, including dance & movement, music and stage design.

To team up all theatre teachers (no matter whether they have any theatre education or not), the teachers themselves have set up working groups to discuss establishing theatre teaching in all schools. These groups are growing because teachers are looking for new ways of teaching and learning – and they find theatre pedagogy to be an important tool. The ZSK (Bundeszentrum für schulische Kulturarbeit) commissioned by the Ministry of Education, coordinated the work of an association of teachers for theatre in schools (Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Theater in der Schule / BAG-TiS) since 2011. In 2019 this work was taken over by the National Center of Competence für Kulturelle Bildung, its successor organisation located at the Pädagogische Hochschule Niederösterreich (University College of Teacher Education Lower Austria). The association is now called Netzwerk Theater in der Schule. Teachers from all over Austria from all levels of education meet once a year at a large conference dealing with current topics, inviting experts, involving theoretical and practical work and opportunities to network. Teacher education institutions (universities and university colleges of teacher education) are also involved in this process.

In order to strengthen the subject at schools and integrate it in the regular curricula, it is important to empower the network of all teachers, from elementary to university level. Teachers and teacher educators who work with theatre methods should know more about each other's work. Throughout Austria, teachers are trained in many areas of art education. They find special offers for theatre education, acting, improvisation and theatre of the oppressed, clown and speech training and many other subjects offered by the university colleges of teacher education. There are also courses lasting several months or years. You can see all the information on the website of NCoC; in addition, a monthly newsletter is published (called Infoletter).¹²

4.6. Teacher Education outside the School Context

OEBV THEATER and IDEA AUSTRIA take an advisory role in these matters. The “OEBV Theater” is the umbrella organization for non-professional theatre in Austria with the goal of promoting the diverse forms of folk and amateur theatre, as well as school and youth theatre, but also theatre for seniors, forms of inclusion-based theatre and initiatives in the areas of theatre pedagogy, Drama and Theatre in Education, and quality development in non-professional theatre.

IDEA (= International Drama / Theatre and Education Association), an association known all around the world with its branch IDEA Austria¹³ has been working on that educational theatre topic in an international context for a long time (since 1991); in Austria this work started as early as 1974, when the first congress with drama in education-speakers from different parts of the world took place; since then the biannual congress has taken place in different regions, including Styria, Carinthia and Burgenland. It seems that this pioneering project has in the meantime been noticed and is supported by the Ministry of Education, by the Universities and the University Colleges of Teacher Education.

Regarding internationalisation, there are also connections to the following associations: AITA/IATA (= Internat. Amateur Theatre Association) and IDEA WORLD (= International Drama / Theatre and Education Association)¹⁴, as well as other institutions working in the field of theatre education (for example EDERED / ADDA). WAAE (World Alliance for Arts Education) combines the work of IDEA, ISME (International Society for Music Education), INSEA (International Society for Education Through Art) and WDA (World Dance Alliance). It would be great to see UNESCO Austria to play a more active role in the field of arts education.

4.7. Qualification to Teach Theatre

A further challenge is the fact that representatives of the other artistic subjects do not necessarily support theatre as a school subject, as this would mean to compete for teaching time and resources. However, if representatives from all artistic subjects would join forces the chances for the introduction of theatre as a subject might well increase.

So far, teachers can specialise on theatre only through further education and in service training courses. The prerequisites for an adequate theatre teaching training would have to be similar to those in other artistic subjects and maintain a balance between the artistic and pedagogical-academic quality. In order to meet the complex requirements of the subject, professionally trained teachers are needed. While tendencies towards the professionalisation of the subject have been evident for some years now, there is still a lack of training programmes that offer solid theoretical training in combination with a training in performative practices.

Ideally, an institution providing training and performances, called Theaterpädagogisches Zentrum (TPZ), should exist in every Austrian town, as a centre for theatre-based teaching and learning. In Vienna, for example, a TPZ has existed for quite some time, and its work has been influenced by the methods of Hilde Weinberger (1913-2002).¹⁵

Nearly all the University Colleges of Teacher Education of all federal states offer teacher training in different intensity and quality; but there are only few ways of qualification with a certificate, e.g. a master’s degree. There are calls for concerted collaboration with universities and participation with teachers’ education all over the country. Through cooperation with all institutions (inside and outside the pedagogical context) it would be possible to reach all students and help them develop their aesthetic capacities as well as their social skills.

4.8. Recommendations

Considering all those details, recommendations for the further development of the Performative Arts and Pedagogy field in Austria should include the introduction of an academic teacher training programme for teaching positions (Lehramtsstudium) that includes training in theatre methods such as drama, improvisation, Theatre of the Oppressed and many other forms of theatre. Teachers who have completed the programme, for example, would then be able to use theatre methods in the context of language teaching/learning and for social needs of a group.

Similar to the situation in other artistic subjects, future teachers of theatre should be provided with an adequate basic academic training in their field that focuses equally on artistic and pedagogical skills.

Cooperation between artists and teachers for training in arts education should be a common feature in every type of school, for every young boy or girl. It should be as standardised as the subjects Visual Arts or Music. Theaterpädagogische Zentren (TPZ) should be available all over the federal provinces of Austria.

Another recommendation is to encourage professional (action) research for pedagogical and artistic education. The topic should be viewed from different perspectives, evoking a discussion between artistic and pedagogical institutions, whose members would be required to talk at eye level and, most importantly, to learn from each other in both theoretical and practical work. The collaboration of all the relevant institutions should be encouraged, including, for example, arts faculties at Universities, Teacher Training institutions and third level institutions which specialise in different art forms, for example, the Institut für Theater-, Film- und Medienwissenschaft (University of Vienna), the Mozarteum – University of Music and Dramatic Arts, Salzburg, the Kunstuni Graz – University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, and the mdw – The University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna.

5. Theaterpädagogik / Theatre Work in Social Fields / Theatre in Context / Communicating Theatre (Sieglinde Roth)

In Austria we have the peculiar situation that the job market in several contexts demands “Theaterpädagog*innen“, even with completed academic studies, but there are still no degree courses of the subject at any university. The discipline has a long tradition of being pushed back and forth between scientific universities and teacher training colleges on the one hand, and universities of music and performing arts on the other.

The underlying reality is a wide range of working possibilities in this field, with each of them requiring different skills. In some contexts it might process work and (socio-)pedagogical qualifications, in others more professional artistic qualifications. There are definitely some reservations as well as a certain competition between the two “ends“ of the spectrum.

In my opinion there are two main reasons why in Austrian theatre and opera houses departments for communicating theatre and opera are growing.

Society is changing. As state theatres in Austria are mainly publicly funded, they are dependent on public support. Only a small part of the Austrian population can afford theatre and opera performances on a regular basis though. Thus, theatres have to justify their existence and, since only full houses are economically acceptable, they also need to find new audiences. Professional theatre/opera houses have to offer more than the traditional performances in which the audience is a passive consumer. Consequently, programmes around the actual performances, such as introduction speeches and workshops, are becoming customary in many places.

Actually, artists have a certain responsibility for the society they live in. “L’art pour l’art“ may have worked in former ages, but it certainly does not meet the needs of the 21st century. An increasing number of theatre practitioners accept this responsibility and develop interactive, participative forms of performance practice.

Theatre Institutions

Representatives of both fields, the professional theatre and theatre pedagogy, meet within the cultural education departments (“Vermittlungsabteilungen“) of professional theatre and opera houses. In the meantime, nearly all theatres have engaged “Kulturvermittler*innen”, who work in teaching performative art and pedagogy, not only for schools.

Theaterpädagog*innen are frequently called Theatervermittler*innen (art mediators). They often mediate between art and pedagogy. It is evident that the departments are growing and the borders between educative and artistic work are slowly disappearing. It is about time that universities, colleges and all relevant educational institutions and academies take both aspects into consideration and devise study programmes which meet these needs.

6. Theatre/Drama in Fields of Social and/or Political Work (Michael Wrentschur)

Theaterpädagog*innen, applied theatre activists and facilitators work in contexts, fields and organisational forms outside the mainstream theatres. They collaborate for/with social services and organisations, cultural and community centres, cultural initiatives and organisations. Some (or most of them?) work on a freelance basis, some of them supported by a theatre or cultural organisation.

The applied theatre projects are sometimes connected to specific institutions like prisons, care homes or hospitals, sometimes the projects are offered for different target groups or communities in disadvantaged, marginalized situations like people experiencing poverty, people with special needs, migrants and refugees, jobless or homeless people. The applied theatre/ Theaterpädagogik projects are joining with public spaces, community centres or urban/rural districts/areas/regions, or the projects are linked to issues like drug or violence prevention.

And there are some groups and initiatives that understand their theatre work as a contribution to social inclusion and/or political participation (e.g. by Legislative Theatre). These initiatives and projects are often understood as artistic/theatrical/cultural social interventions and/or performative social research with the aim to stimulate personal, social or political change, like e.g. InterACT in Graz.¹⁶

In all these theatre activities links can be found with the professional social and community work regarding aims and action fields. Nevertheless, it has to be emphasized that theatre work is not social work, although there can be a lot of cooperation and synergies between the two (Wrentschur 2019). And in these cases it would help to have an understanding of these different “social fields”, as I tried to explain in an article (Wrentschur 2005) some years ago, and even here: There is only little networking or (academic) research about the theatre work with social and political agendas.

7. Looking ahead into Future (Dagmar Höfferer)

The highly varied scene of Performing Arts and Pedagogy in Austria shows an abundance of artistic and pedagogical approaches; there is a lot of expertise which can be tapped into to develop the field further in the years to come. For this to be achieved it seems vital to promote the dialogue and increase the collaboration between theatre pedagogues, artists, academics and representatives of the Austrian educational system. We hope that this report is a helpful step in this direction.

We would like to thank SCENARIO for the opportunity to publish this country report.

Bibliography

Steinweg, Reiner (1995): Lehrstück und episches Theater. Brechts Theorie und die theaterpädagogische Praxis. Frankfurt am Main: Brandes & Apsel

Woodhouse, Fionn (2019): The Performative Arts and Pedagogy Project – Towards the Development of an International Glossary – International Conference, 1st & 2nd March 2019, University College Cork. In: Scenario XIII/1, 99-105. URL: http://research.ucc.ie/scenario/2019/01/Woodhouse/08/en – [last accessed 8 Dec 2019]

Wrentschur, Michael (2019): Forumtheater, szenisches Forschen und Soziale Arbeit. Diskurse – Verfahren – Fallstudien. Weinheim und Basel: Beltz Juventa

Wrentschur, Michael (2005): Social Fields. In: Bernadette Cronin, Sieglinde Roth & Michael Wrentschur (eds.): Training Manual Theatre Work in Social Fields. Frankfurt a.M.: Brandes & Apsel, 30-40

Online Sources

Complete legal regulation for curricula - general secondary schools, version of 1.08.2017 https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008568&FassungVom=2017-08-31 [last access Nov 15, 2019]

Curriculum of the general special school, Annex C1 2008  www.cisonline.at/fileadmin/kategorien/BGBl_II__Nr_137_Anlage_C_1.pdf [last access Nov 15, 2019]

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