A Child with Markus Meyer - Theater Workshop

Markus Meyer | Reading
Ingrid Porzner | Theater Pedagogical Director
"The grandfathers are the teachers, the true philosophers of every person" (Johannes Freumbichler, grandfather of Thomas Bernhard)

Reading excerpts and discussion with young people aged 12 and above and Markus Meyer

Thomas Bernhard, a literary focal point and "beacon" of the Salzkammergut Festival Weeks in Gmunden for many years, has published five autobiographical books alongside his numerous major novels and stage works, which provide insight into why and how he became the writer he was: The Cause – A Hint, The Cellar – A Withdrawal, The Breath – A Decision, The Cold – An Isolation, and A Child.

In these works, he recounts his childhood, his time in boarding school, his apprenticeship, and his studies, leading to the isolation of a young man triggered by his illness in a tuberculosis sanatorium. "A Child" deals with the earliest phase of the famous poet's life and tells of his childhood, marked by the shame of growing up as an illegitimate child in the countryside, the war and the consequences of National Socialism, poverty, the constraints and strictness of village life, but also of his deep love for his grandfather and his indomitable will to resist and break free from this world. It begins with the memory of a runaway attempt by the little boy with his guardian's bicycle, the triumphantly experienced beginning, and how the ride ends in a debacle due to a major fall.

The matinee aims to introduce young people to the work of the great writer, who had his main residence in Ohlsdorf for decades and often spent time at Café Rathaus in Gmunden studying newspapers. A reading of excerpts from "A Child" is planned, along with connections to the reality of today's young readers.

Theater Pedagogical Direction: Ingrid Porzner