On Saturday November 14 the Burgtheater  was in for a surprise: After the intermission, the performance of the play “Lorenzaccio” by Alfred de Mussets could only be continued with delay. The reason: About 200 students and university staff members of various universities in Vienna occupied the stage and part of the auditorium in order to reinforce their demands.

“Universities and theaters are places, where criticism can and must be articulated. If intendant Hartmann prides himself on doing political theatre, then a comment on the protests must be expressed in some way too”, one of the speakers said.

“A declaration of solidarity would be the best of course”, another person added.

Their hope was not unfounded: Karin Bergmann, assistant director of the Bundestheater (state theater), was quite surprised by the demonstration at first; however she showed her support to the protesters and also declared her solidarity.

The reactions of the audience, on the other hand, were split: Whereas a great part of the people approved of the demonstration and responded with applause, some others booed and also attacked the protesters with words like “piss off!” or “choke them!” “The level of verbal expression and the quality of statements by objectors of the protest was way below those of the speakers”, a university staff member noticed to her surprise. Among other things, the protesters referred in their speeches to Humboldt’s concept of education and criticized the drift towards a focus on efficiency in terms of university education.

A banner with a quote by Bertolt Brecht emphasized the protesters’ demand for public discourse: “Difficulties can not be overcome by keeping silent about them”. The protesters left the stage with flyers raining down on them, escorted by congratulations and insults. The organisers stressed the fact that, contrary to some rumours, a permanent occupation of the Burgtheater had never been planned. The intention was rather to use the theater as a public space, where “alternative solutions can be discussed and creative thinking can be encouraged.” [quote from the speech]

No problems occurred between the protesters and the police positioned in front of the theater, not even when most of the protesters spontaneously decided to walk on the Ring Street back to the occupied Audimax at the University of Vienna. On the contrary, the police even closed the street to guarantee a safe walk for the protesters.

The actors involved in the play expressed their support after the intermission as well. Martin Schwab, acting as Graf Strozzi, added the following lines to the play: “I think it’s wonderful that nowadays young people fight for their legitimate concerns by democratic means.” The audience applauded this statement.