November 2018 marked 90 years since the mdw’s Department of Drama—Max Reinhardt Seminar first opened its doors. It was in 1928 that the “Acting and Directing Seminar”, founded and subsequently headed by Max Reinhardt, officially set up shop at Schlosstheater Schönbrunn, where teaching began in April of 1929. Today, the Seminar—now headquartered at nearby Palais Cumberland—continues to offer degree programmes in acting and directing.
A special feature is how some of the coursework and instruction unites students from both majors, a strategy that aims to increase mutual understanding between the two professions. The provision of well-founded and well-rounded training, which had always been a central concern of the Seminar’s founder, continues to be central today: combining formal instruction with practical theatrical work, made possible by public performances of departmental productions, affords students the best possible preparation for their careers. And as part of both in-house instruction and co-productions with major theatres, young thespians can draw on the experience and knowledge of experts from the worlds of theatre and film as well as from many other fields.
Get informed about current theatrical productions at maxreinhardtseminar.at and pay a visit to the Seminar’s home base in Penzing!
