Nesterval
Der Rosa Winkel – Die Geschichte der Namenlosen (formerly DIE NAMENLOSEN)
Vienna during the Second World War: the audience follows the fate of eight homosexuals who suffered repression and persecution under the Nazi regime. Moving breathlessly from one precisely-detailed room to the next, alternating between victims and perpetrators. However, no one can see all 160 of these nightmarish scenes: everyone has their own individual route.
Venue: brut nordwest, Vienna (Austria)
Language: German
Tickets are available from brut wien.
Tickets for the performance on 30 May will be available from Monday 29 April at 13:00.
The advance sale for the June dates starts on Tuesday, 21 May at 13:00.
The promenade starts at the heart of its setting: in the canteen of a porcelain factory. At night this turns into a secret shebeen, a safe place for homosexuals and trans people to meet. But the Nazis soon get wind of their activities …
From here the audience have to decide for themselves which of the two dozen characters they want to follow through the labyrinth of darkened rooms and when they want to swap to the next one. The audience enters a vortex of fiction and reality. This principle has made Nesterval stars of the Viennese theatre scene: they make theatre for people who think theatre is actually too boring. Immersive settings in disused buildings immediately involve the public and create experiences that are addictive. In their home city, Nesterval’s plays are sold out within minutes.
But the subject is serious: „Der Rosa Winkel – Die Geschichte der Namenlosen“, a revised version of DIE NAMENLOSEN, is both a memorial and a warning. Its historical narrative predetermines how the production will turn out: it begins sadly and rapidly becomes desperate. An evening of theatre that has after effects.
“The Viennese company Nesterval once again draws its audience into an unsettling story. They don’t just stare but share the thoughts, lives and emotions of the characters.” Margarete Affenzeller, Der Standard
Credits ›
Artistic Director, Direction: Martin Finnland
Book: Teresa Löfberg
Stage Design: Andrea Konrad
Costume Design: Dritan Kosovrasti
Choreography: Marcelo Doño
Dramaturgy: Tove Grün
Assistant Director: Laura Athanasiadis
Co-Authors: Martin Finnland, Gisa Fellerer, Lorenz Tröbinger
Co-Conceiver, Applications, Archive: Martin Walanka
Production: Emilie Kleinszig, Sabine Anders
Secondary Direction: Lorenz Tröbinger
Technical Director: Lukas “Lupo” Saller
Set Construction: Andreas Holzmann (Vienna Decoration Company), Walter Winkelmüller
Composition Songs and Score: Julian Muldoon
Song Lyrics: Sarah Muldoon
Sound Design: Alkis Vlassakakis
Assistant Play Development: Gisa Fellerer
Research Advisors: Andreas Brunner, Jürgen Pettinger
Magic Consultant: Raphael Macho
Design Team: Ruth Grau, Willy Mutzenpachner, Milo Marx, Lorenz Hötzeneder
Graphics: Rita Brandneulinger
Website: Gisa Fellerer
Communications: Christopher Wurmdobler
Photography: Alexandra Thompson
Trailer: Sabine Anders (Director), Lukas Grubba (Camera), Sabrina Winkler (Editor, Grading)
Co-operations: Lukas Kirisits
Bookkeeping, Office: Doris Panzer
Technicians: Plan B, Till Gatermann
Stage Management: Ela Lankes, Sabine Anders, Sebastian Kieberl
Bar: Luki Kirisits, Markus Gorfer
With: Christopher Wurmdobler, Martin Finnland, Gisa Fellerer, Chiara Seide, Stefan Pauser, Mio Riedl, Romy Hrubeš, Willy Mutzenpachner, Rita Brandneulinger, Johannes Scheutz, Sven Diestel, Gellert Gerson Butter, Martin Walanka, Laura Hermann, Aston Matters, Lorenz Tröbinger, Peter Kraus, Julia Fuchs, Alkis Vlassakakis, Hisham Morscher, Ela Lankes, Sabine Anders, Sebastian Kieberl, Denice Bourbon, Simon Stockinger, Anne Wieben, Norbert Fiedler, Alexandra Thompson, Bernhard Hablé, Eva Deutsch, Jürgen Pettinger, Luki Kirisits, Markus Gorfer
Special thanks to Peter Hörmanseder (sound recordings), Peter Holub, Johannes Felber and the Friends of Nesterval (especially Andrea and Valerie Lenk, Andreas Kauba, Clemens and Katharina Pallitsch, Edmund Weninger, Kaya Alina Knapp, Maria Sibilia, Markus Kellner, Martin Hinterndorfer, Michael Brandtner and Michael Marker) and also to Nikolaus Vogler (PKHV Attorneys at Law), René Lipkovich (Siart Lipkovich & Team) and Helmut Patterer (PRBS Patterer e.U.).
Production ›
With generous support from the City of Vienna Department of Culture (MA7), the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport, the National Fund of the Republic of Austria and the Future Fund of the Republic of Austria as well as Vienna Decoration Company, Magenta, ZANTHO, Pedacola, Trumer Privatbrauerei, Vöslauer, Mietmöbel Föhr.
Biography ›
Nesterval sees itself as a queer folk theatre that translates, overwrites and deconstructs classics of literary and theatre history into the present. Each production is centred around a delight in play, the creation of a space for theatrical experiences and the inclusion of the audience in immersive theatre. Room for interactive manoeuvre is created through empathy, through surprising casting choices and also through conversations after the show. Nesterval consistently foregrounds a queer technique of self-empowerment, in which the pleasurable level of play always has a political dimension, raising and processing socio-political issues. The plays are always based on epoch-making experiences within the dynasty of the fictitious Nesterval family. All of the more than 25 productions so far been presented in Austria and internationally have been site-specific in nature and made reference to the cultural, social and historical background of each particular venue. The ensemble consists of around 20 performers, drag artists and actors who tell the history of the Nesterval family in a variety of combinations. Nesterval has already been nominated for Vienna’s Nestroy Theatre Prize on three occasions, most recently in 2023 for DIE NAMENLOSEN. Nesterval won a Nestroy Prize in 2020 for ‘Der Kreisky Test’. The Hamburg version of DIE NAMENLOSEN was shortlisted for the Nachtkritik Theatertreffen 2024.