The TiB

TiB-PERFORMERS ARE THEATER MAKERS

Theater im Bahnhof defines itself as a contemporary popular theater, its main topic the study of Austrian identity. The term “identity” requires ongoing negotiation, so our theater must constantly change. TiB is also the largest professional independent theater ensemble in Austria to exist permanently.

We work in a collective of prominent and sought-after individual artists. We believe that collective energies and thought processes are essential to a contemporary concept of theater. And ensemble resonance is its sharpest instrument. The concept of “genius” is getting old, it is now the process!

The performers are familiar with various forms of work such as research, interviews and text development and usually also function as co-authors of the theater text.
Their trademarks are the creation of theatre pieces, the development of new performance formats, and the unpredictability of what emerges.

Rarely does a literary text form the basis of the work, but mostly it is a question, a topic, a problem situation. Our task is nevertheless to reach a substantial number of spectators with our topics. We aim for the involuntary resonance between audience and stage. This is where theatre happens. If you hit this nerve, then interest arises. Forced entertainment within the realm of contemporary popular theater.

And it's a game of tension: the tension between identification and reflection. The audience knows the unspoken rules of the game that we play on stage, and invests completely.

And humor is always an important tool. Recognition and laughter are siblings for us. We will never forget that.

IN THE CENTER: THE HERE AND NOW

The Here and Now is the current production.

A TiB production basically tells stories of Graz, whereby Graz can be anywhere and everywhere. After all, we live in a globalized world. The context must be appropriate. A TiB production reflects these stories back to the city of Graz. We tell stories of the reality from which we come. And they often arise from perspectives that are not so obvious, that are hidden underneath the routine everyday life.

We communicate with authors, scientists, artists, and experts of everyday life, and we are interested in the various skills and the knowledge of our performers. This is the material with which we begin to work. This gives us a current, living picture of the present. And we are thinking outside the box.

Artistic exchange is one of our constant practices, not only with colleagues from the international performance scene, city theater and cinema production but also with researchers, entrepreneurs and neighbors. We view our work as dialogue, we benefit from it. Our competence is growing.

You never know where a new story can lead you. In this sense, we are friends of reality.