Schauspielhaus Graz
​Ewe Benbenek
ФielföلkaŠtát (äh, vielvölkastaat, oder was?)

Letters from Hungarian, Czech, Cyrillic, and Arabic meet in the title. They point to interconnections in former Austria-Hungary, timeless language conflicts, and current debates on migration. In this commission, Ewe Benbenek examines the historical continuities as well as contemporary fault lines of the “multinational state.” Her text takes a multilingual journey through history, giving voice to operetta characters, striking workers, and folk songs. The playwright draws attention to political structures as well as language as a vehicle for identity, conflict, and memory. Here, the multinational state emerges not as a nostalgic model but as a figure of thought: an open question about what multicultural life could look like today. Director Marie Bues and her team deliberately work with cross-border perspectives: In the coproduction, actors from ensembles based in Graz, Vienna, and Budapest perform the play in German and Hungarian.