''Ein schöner Hase ist meistens der Einzellne'' (''A Beautiful Rabbit is Mostly the Individual'') is a 2013 play by Austrian playwright and writer

Philipp Weiss Philipp Weiss (born 5 February 1982 in Vienna) is an Austrian writer and playwright. In September 2018, he published his critically acclaimed debut novel, ''Am Weltenrand sitzen die Menschen und lachen''. Early life and background Weiss was born ...

. It is based on the true story of two schizophrenic patients of the

Gugging The Maria Gugging Psychiatric Clinic was a psychiatric institution located in the suburb of Maria Gugging on the outskirts of Vienna, Austria. During the Nazi era hundreds of mental patients were murdered or abused at Gugging as part of the N ...

mental institution which uses artistic therapy. The play premiered at Feldkirch's

Alte Hallenbad Feldkirch Alte is a village and civil parish in the municipality of Loulé, in the Algarve region in the south of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 1,997, in an area of . Situated away from the coast, Alte is known as one of the most typical and unspoi ...

on 13 December 2013 in a production by the

Projekttheater Vorarlberg Projekttheater Vorarlberg is a theatrical group in Austria, established in 1988 by Sieglinde Müller and Dietmar Nigsch. It puts on two productions a year and has performed all over the Austria, South Tyrol and Bavaria since 1995. The group is dir ...

theatrical group.

Plot

The avant-garde poet

Ernst Herbeck Ernst Herbeck (9 October 1920, Stockerau, Lower Austria – 11 September 1991) was an Austrian poet. In 1940, at the age of 20, Herbeck was committed to the national mental hospital in Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) where he spent almost hi ...

(1920–1991) and artist

August Walla August Walla (1936–2001) was an Austrian outsider artist. Career Walla grew up as an only child with his mother and grandmother. His mother dressed and educated him as a girl, to prevent him from becoming a soldier. Walla later declared that he ...

(1936–2001) live much of their lives as schizophrenic patients in the

mental institution near Vienna. Though they have the same condition they are fundamentally different people. Walla is still haunted by the death of his grandmother as a child and perceives the universe to have collapsed, while Herbeck is concerned with his cleft lip and palate condition, which severely affects his ability to speak. The play is divided into five different acts, in chronological order, following the protagonists as they interpret and reinterpret each other, often in a disturbing way.

Background

Weiss studied the works of Herbeck and Walla in preparation for penning the play and drew upon a wealth of documentary material, from medical records, court records, psychiatric journals and books to film footage and interviews and research at the State Hospital for Psychiatry and Neurology and Gugging itself.

Reception

The play premiered

in Feldkirch on December 13, 2013, in a production by director

Susanne Lietzow Susanne may refer to: *Susanne (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name) *, later USS ''SP-411'', a United States Navy patrol boat in commission from 1917 to 1919 *, the proposed name and designation for a vess ...

and the

theatrical group. It was then performed at the Schauspielhaus's in Vienna and

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

. The play was lauded by critics, with ''

Wiener Zeitung ''Wiener Zeitung'' () is an Austrian newspaper. First published as the ''Wiennerisches Diarium'' in 1703, it is one of the oldest newspapers in the world. Until April 2023, it was the official gazette of the government of the Republic of Austria ...

'' writing "Gripping, touching, with wit and brooding aftermath: rare theater luck" and ''

European Cultural News European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

'' writing: "Big, really big theater. A great moment at contemporary Austrian theatre". ''

Die Presse (, ) is a German-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. It is considered a newspaper of record for Austria. History and profile was first printed on 3 July 1848 as a liberal (libertarian)-bourgeois newspaper within the ...

'' wrote: "Great job. A cacophony of horror". ''Vol.at'' noted the suitability and atmosphere of the old swimming pool building for the play, and stated that director Susanne Lietzow "knows how to create characters that make their world easier to understand". They note the many disturbing conversations between the artists, stating that "the things they say and do are disturbing, irritating, also provocative, sometimes crazy and incomprehensible". They also note the elements of horror in its coverage of childhood trauma and electroshock therapies.

References

External links

Suhrkamp.de
main entry
''European Cultural News''
review {{DEFAULTSORT:Schöner Hase ist meistens der Einzellne, Ein 2013 plays Austrian plays Horror plays