What makes the Salzburg Marionette Theatre different from other theatres? – On the stage, the marionettes are the protagonists, and the people are behind – or rather, above it all. Because, while down on the stage these finely-crafted marionettes perform plays, fairy-tales, musicals and operas, it's the skilled puppeteers two metres above them who guide all their movements with a special technique, each on 12 strings. The puppeteers, who have mastered this unique method, bring the marionettes to miraculous life.
This special performance technique, has been declared a cultural asset worthy of preservation, as the "most highly developed form of puppet and figure theatre", earning the Salzburg Marionette Theatre a place in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
From October 25, the Marionette Theatre shows the monumental Nibelung tetralogy in condensed form and from a modern perspective: Man meets marionette, to narrate the myth in only two hours. The resultant stunning changes of perspective make for a novel rendering of the great epic.
In December 2023, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre, in co-operation with the Salzburger Kulturvereinigung, will present the revival of the production Papillons / Die Spielzeugschachtel, accompanied live by the world-famous pianist Sir András Schiff.This exceptional project began back in 2010 with Die Spielzeugschachtel at the suggestion of Sir András Schiff in his enthusiasm for the Salzburg marionettes. It was premiered at his festival, the Ittinger Pfingsttage in Switzerland. In 2014, the production was extended to a one-hour programme by Papillons. The piece made guest appearances in Vienna and New York, among other cities, before being performed at the Salzburg Festival in 2016. Now it returns to Salzburg and then travels to Ludwigshafen as well as to Berlin in the Pierre Boulez Saal. The production is characterised by "open" puppeteering with four visible puppeteers and the special enrichment of Sir András Schiff's piano playing.
A week full of contemporary and classical chamber music concerts, composer lectures and master classes for music lovers and students. A new perspective for the Salzburg music scene! The opening event will take place on 9 October at 8 pm at the Marionette Theatre.
Programme and tickets: https://www.dynamikfest.com/
From 19–22 October 2023, Salzburg's old town will once again be dedicated to jazz, world and electronic music. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre with its neo-baroque hall and the bar in the theatre foyer is once again an attractive event location.
It must not be easy when you have to start work on a new Christmas cabaret programme as early as summer. But Fritz Egger and his congenial musician Johannes Pillinger are having fun and enjoying themselves, because the AffrontTheater Salzburg has been demonstrating cabaret talent for Advent for years. And finally, the two are playing for the first time in Salzburg's Marionette Theatre, so every performance should go "like clockwork". With "Lachdenklicher Advent" Fritz Egger promises a cabaret guide through the pre-Christmas season. The very fact that it is called the "quietest time of the year" makes him laugh. The audience can expect a lot of fun - of course also for Christians of all ages including the "Last Christmas Generation" - with satirical classics but also numerous new texts, as always written by Fritz Egger, Fritz Popp and Manfred Koch.