There are those people to whom, when they speak, we could listen forever—almost no matter what they say; it somehow touches us and sweeps us along. And then there are others whom we can’t follow; sitting in the theatre, we grow restless or can’t quite manage to absorb what they’re declaiming. Why is this so?

For several years, now, the Standing Conference on Actors’ Training (Ständige Konferenz Schauspielausbildung – SKS) has been organising central auditions for the German-speaking region’s acting schools. At these events, students from the current year’s graduating classes present themselves to specialist audiences with an eye to landing engagements at the region’s various theatres. In the following, students from the graduating class of 2022 provide us with some impressions of their whirlwind trip to Neuss, Berlin, and Munich for the graduate auditions known as the Absolvent_innen-Vorspiele.

It all began with founding the ensemble Theater Brauhaus in Litschau, which gave students the chance to perform theatrically during the Max Reinhardt Seminar’s summer break. Since then, the northern part of the Waldviertel region has become known for its “Theaterfestival HIN & WEG” and even features its own “theatre village”.

4th-year Max Reinhardt Seminar students Johanna Mahaffy and Anton Widauer are fast approaching graduation. But the ongoing pandemic means huge challenges in terms of training and job-hunting.

Rita Waszilovics and casting director Deborah Congia spoke with mdw Magazine about their work.

It was in 1928 that the “Acting and Directing Seminar”, founded and subsequently headed by Max Reinhardt, officially set up shop at Schlosstheater Schönbrunn.

Nicole Heesters visits the Max Reinhardt Seminar

The 24-year-old German actor spoke with mdw Magazine about her fear of the acting profession, her plans for the future, and why she wants to play Jedermann in Salzburg.

Since this autumn, the exceptional director David Bösch has been teaching stage directing at the Max Reinhardt Seminar.

Burgtheater actors Regina Fritsch, Maria Happel, and Roland Koch speak about how they teach character development at the Max Reinhardt Seminar.