What actually makes a person human? Is it the upright gait? The ability to communicate? Social cohesion and compassion? All of this can also be observed in the animal kingdom... But there is something else: we are the only species (at least in theory) that can laugh about ourselves and our humanity. If we do this: recognize our imperfections, our mistakes, our weaknesses and laugh about them - loudly or quietly - compassionately and never spitefully, preferably together - then we become fully human! This is exactly what we mean when we choose "A Mensch möcht' i bleib'm!" as the motto for this season and explore with you how our dreams, mistakes, faults and desires make us human.
Accompany the reality-denier Don Quixote on his imaginary journeys, the shrill Florence Foster Jenkins in her delusion of being a great singer, and the stubborn Bockerer in his efforts to remain human in difficult times. Take the flight to becoming human with Christine Nöstlinger's fiery red Friederike and help out at the annual general meeting of the tennis club, where simply too many members want to fry their "extra sausage". Oh yes, there's something else to bear in mind when laughing: It's best not to laugh alone, but in company. And where is the best laughing company? Exactly: at Porcia Castle and in the theater in the rehearsal stages in July and August! Charlie Chaplin already knew: "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people."
Don Quixote or The Invented One © Johanna Lamprecht
DON QUIJOTE OR THE FOUND (world premiere)
based on Miguel de Cervantes by Mario Schlembach
"To fantasize is human!" Who doesn't know it? The comedy about the great dreamer Don Quixote, who has read so many knightly novels that in the confusion of old age he believes himself to be a noble knight. His surroundings are not suitable for this: He lives in the Spanish province in 1605, where no knight has passed for 100 years. Gone are the magical days of heroes, giants, damsels and adventures. And while the whole village - the priest, the barber, the farmer Sancho with his wife and Dr. Carrasco - tries to get the old man out of the spell of his books, he sets off on new adventures in his head... But where is the line between dream and reality here? Wouldn't the world be a nicer place if there were knights, magic and heroes? And didn't he just say something about a treasure? The Austrian author Mario Schlembach accepts the challenge of adapting Miguel de Cervantes' great work, which the Nobel Prize Institute voted the "best book in the world" in 2002, for the stage of Porcia Castle.
Premiere and grand opening of the Porcia 2025 Comedy Festival: June 28, 2025
GLORIOUS - THE STORY OF FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS by Peter Quilter
"To err is human or: Your ears will make eyes!" New York in the 1940s: The whole city talks only of her - the self-proclaimed diva and soprano Florence Foster Jenkins croaks and squeals her way enthusiastically through the greatest arias of world literature. There's just one tiny little problem: she can't sing ... well, not at all. While her voice sounds angelic in the head of the fun-loving millionaire, the audience's toenails curl up and high society bursts out laughing. And yet the eccentric lady continues to fascinate and inspire to this day. Her story was filmed in 2016 with Meryl Streep in the leading role. Is it because of her honest, open, human nature? Is it because of her lavishly giving, friendly nature? Or are the notes not important at all? Do you only sing well with your heart? In any case, what Florence Foster Jenkins herself said applies: "People may say that I can't sing, but no one can say that I haven't sung!"
Premiere: July 11, 2025
The Bockerer © Johanna Lamprecht
THE BOCKER
by Ulrich Becher and Peter Preses
"Stay human!" He's a stubborn dog, butcher Karl Bockerer, and all he really wants to do is live his life in peace between family, work and his beloved card game. But as the National Socialists take power in Vienna and the war approaches, it becomes increasingly difficult for the apolitical Bockerer to simply remain human. But he succeeds: with his very own mixture of humor, naivety and stubbornness, the most Austrian of heroes navigates his way through difficult times until the war is over and the card round is complete again: "Your hand, Mr. Rosenblatt!" The legendary Bockerer films with Karl Merkatz have long been part of the Austrian identity. In the "Carinthian Year of Remembrance Culture 2025", we are showing the story of the Bockerer on our comedy stage, because: The powerful fear nothing more than human laughter!
Premiere: July 17, 2025
THE FIERY RED FRIEDERIKE
by Christine Nöstlinger in the version by Anja Wohlfahrt and Florian Eisner
"Becoming human". Friederike lives with the Annatante. She has a cat called Kater and red hair. Fire red, say the children and that's why they laugh at Friederike: "Here comes the fire red Friederike! Fire! It's burning on her head!" This makes Friederike sad. But because her hair is no ordinary red hair, very unusual things soon happen. Friederike will learn to defend herself, make friends for life and eventually even learn to fly!
Christine Nöstlinger's classic children's book, first published in 1970, has not yet been adapted for the theater and we think it's high time to present this enchanting story as our family comedy at Schloss Porcia.
Premiere: June 26, 2025
The fiery red Frederike © Johanna Lamprecht
EXTRAWURST
by Dietmar Jacobs and Moritz Netenjakob
"Arguing is human" Political correctness can be quite exhausting! It would all be so easy: just one more item of business at the tennis club's annual general meeting and then we could move on to the more relaxed part of the evening. But the dedicated Melanie puts forward a motion: she wants to put a new barbecue to the vote because her doubles partner Erol, who is Turkish, can't use the barbecue when he's cooking pork sausages on it. Erol couldn't care less. Would the purchase of a second barbecue divide the group? Is sausage already the leading culture? And are vegetarians actually also a religious community? A merciless match of arguments begins and some of the balls fly pretty low. Gradually, everyone realizes that this is about much more than a barbecue. This is about how we live together. This is about our humanity! This fast-paced and abysmal comedy is one of the biggest comedy successes in Germany in recent years. Game - set - and match! But for whom? With this production, we are continuing our successful cooperation with the STRABAG Kunstforum: visual art of the very highest quality is combined with our stage design to create an overall experience. This year, works by Bernard Ammerer can be admired. In his paintings, the artist depicts decisive moments, situations on the brink of disaster. The protagonists in Ammerer's paintings make contact with the viewer as if they were inviting them to think the situation through.
Premiere: July 6, 2025, Theater in den Probenbühnen
Comedy plays PORCIA
June 26 to August 30, 2025
www.ensemble-porcia.at
