The Rabtaldirndln lace up their football boots, put on shin pads and break out of the comfort zone with brute feminist force.
Includes ticket for journey to venue by public transport, to be collected at any information and ticket offices.
German language
Talk following the performance on Fri 09/10
The Rabtaldirndln come from the Rabtal, an imaginary region of Styria. The five-strong theatre collective with rural roots however, always seeks contact with the city. It doesn’t always end well – but they don’t allow themselves to become disillusioned.
The setting of “Luise 37” is a prosperous locality in the immediate surroundings of Graz, in the affluent suburbs, where many young families have fulfilled their dream of owning their own home or of living in a smart residential estate – motorway connection and commuter allowance included. Luise and her husband have their own home there, too. The rural idyll near the city is not as dreamy as it appears at first sight – he commutes to the city every day, she works part-time and deals with the kids in the afternoons: baby yoga, music school, ballet and ... football.
The Rabtaldirndln don their shin pads and structure their performance as a football training session: “Get out of your comfort zone!” they yell with brute feminist force as they make for the goal. “Take your life back into your own hands and don’t define yourself through your children!” While the kids are training on the football pitch, Luise takes care of the shopping and housework – and life passes her by like the commuters on the highway.
Concept and realisation Die Rabtaldirndln
With Barbara Carli, Rosi Degen, Bea Dermond & Gudrun Maier
Stage and set design Georg Klüver-Pfandtner
Choreographic advice Milli Bitterli
Dramaturgy Gerda Strobl & Georg Klüver-Pfandtner
Technical direction Nina Ortner
Production Gudrun Maier
Commissioned by steirischer herbst
Co-produced by steirischer herbst & Theater Roxy
Supported by Kanton Basel-Stadt, Fachausschuss Theater und Tanz
steirischer herbst
Production Jakob Schweighofer
Project management Stefan Pfister
Technical management Karl Masten
Die Rabtaldirndln (AT)
There is no such place as the Rabtal, but the Dirndls do indeed exist. The five Styrian actresses formed a group in 2003 to put on theatre under the name of the Rabtaldirndln, examining and reworking the field of tension between urban and rural culture. The collective presented their debut independent production, “Halbdurch Ganzdurch Tod”, during their first year. In 2009 their piece “Aufplatzen” won an award at the Freischwimmer Festival in Berlin; two years later “Berge versetzen” appeared at the Pathos Theater Munich. In the same year “Zielsicher” won the Rabtaldirndln the main prize at BestOFFStyria for the first time. In 2014 they again received the award, this time for “Einkochen”. The group’s latest production – “Du gingst fort” – premiered in 2015 at brut Wien.
