Peculiar Puddings? (Austrian Theatre Museum)

Member Name: zoe_page_1

Product:	Austrian Theatre Museum
Date:	29/08/01 (60 review reads)
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In many ways I had a theatrical childhood. I was always performing and can make my way round the back stage areas of most of the theatres in the north west with my eyes closed. You’d be amazed at how scruffy some of these are (not mentioning any venues in particular but a certain Opera House in Blackpool needs some work, and for the record none of the lipstick kisses on the way down the stairs are mine, although I know the owners of a few of the others). Still I have a vested interest in Theatre and will happily go to any performance – ballets, plays, musicals, I’m not fussy. It was for this reason that one Sunday afternoon I ended up at Austria’s Theatre Museum, handily located 10 mins walk from where I was staying.

Built for Count Dietrichstein around 1685, the majestic Lobkowitz Palace, which is anything but tatty, has been home to the Theatre Museum since 1991. On display are 1.6 million items, or at least that’s what the brochure claims. Maybe I missed a section but I didn’t see this many. The museum is spread out over 3 floors. Currently on the ground floor is an exhibition dedicated to Curd Jürgens. This is running until September 23rd 2001 and is in co-operation with the German Film Museum in Frankfurt am Main. I made my ignorance known to the world when I asked the guy at the ticket desk who exactly Mr Jürgens was.

“An actor”, he replied.

“A famous actor?”, I enquired.

“Extremely” he said, glaring at me.

“Not in England I’m afraid” I continued, and headed over to the stairs before he could berate me for being so thick.

Up on the first floor there are “traditional” theatre displays – hand-written manuscripts, playbills from performances long ago, costumes used in performances in the city over recent years, a figure theatre full of puppets which sadly I felt a little too old to play with, an orchest
ra pit and a room full of what the English guide to the place called “Curious Trifles” (hence the title of the op). Only one section had buttons to press (ok, technically I may be an adult, but I like things like that) and this section was pretty boring – basically you chose which costume you wanted to see, pressed the button and a spotlight fell on it. Had a few fun minutes pressing all the buttons in quick succession, making them flick on and off at a rapid rate before moving on incase they were going to blow and get me in trouble.

In the final section there are some videos which didn’t seem to be working, and some more temporary displays, at the moment some more junk about this Jürgens guy.

The museum is open Tues to Sun from 10 am to 5 pm (until 8 pm on Wednesdays) and costs about 3 GBP for adults. Concessions are 2 GBP (and I didn’t need ID, but then since their student prices are valid for up to 27 year olds that probably explains it – there is no way I look that old). There is a small shop on the foyer offering things you could find in the UK – pens with musical notes on for example – along with postcards and a wide selection of books (all in German). There isn’t a cafe but there’s a nice courtyard where you can have a sit down. There’s a self service cloakroom too, with lockers for when you don’t want to lug a bag or coat around with you.

Check out the website for directions, but basically it’s walkable from Karlsplatz and Stephansdom undergound stops – so lines 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Worth it for serious theatre fans but I imagine it wouldn’t be that interesting otherwise.

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