Mephistos Erwachen at Theater an der Wien

The legendary historical revues in the theatre and cabaret known as the "Hölle" in the basement of the Theater an der Wien enter their eighth wondrous year accompanied by the enthusiastic acclaim of audiences and press alike. As the natural sequel to the wild celebratory revue Im siebenten Himmel (In the Seventh Heaven) in the Hölle comes the fall of the angels and Mephistos Erwachen (Mephisto's Awakening).

After heavenly rapture, Georg Wacks now conceives — coinciding precisely with the 110th anniversary of the Jugendstil revue "Die Hölle" — the wild and emotionally stirring programme Mephistos Erwachen. Remarkable performances of historical cabaret and variety numbers, moving songs sung in antique costumes, melancholy songs, international female metamorphoses, demonic dances and literary, humoristic gems bring the mood of the "Hölle" back to life for two hours while the champagne flows freely and a hellishly throaty atmosphere reigns to guarantee an evening of devilish glee.

The familiarly flamboyant and frankly overdone décor by Stefan Fleischhacker has been designed entirely on the theme of the 500th anniversary of the death of Hieronymus Bosch. Fritz Grünbaum, Joachim Ringelnatz, Georg Kreisler and William Shakespeare guarantee literature and humour of the highest standard. Songs by Béla Laszky, Jacques Offenbach, Ralph Benatzky and Erik Satie round the programme off. The cultured Albero Verde ensemble provides the music with their customary flawless playing. In the accompanying exhibition, which is dominated by the 100th anniversary of Dadaism, Marie-Theres Arnbom presents a new set of long-lost artefacts from past revues.