Experiment am Liechtenwerd

The Experiment am Liechtenwerd is a small theatre in Vienna’s ninth district, Alsergrund. It stands in a former coal cellar beneath a house in Liechtenstein Street, once used to store folding boats. The name recalls the old suburb of Lichtental, where ‘werd’ means island in medieval German. Founded in 1955, it is the city’s oldest surviving cellar theatre. Three men—Erwin Pikl, Erich Pateisky and Conny Hannes Meyer—created the space for experimental drama. The theatre has staged 196 productions and 255 plays since opening. Forty-three were world premières, mostly by Austrian writers such as Wolfgang Bauer with his play Totu-wa-botu. A further seventy-nine were Austrian premières of international works. The stage began life during the 1956 Vienna Festival Weeks with two new plays. Over the decades it has remained a laboratory for new writing. Visitors enter through a narrow passage to find a tiny auditorium with forty-nine seats arranged close to the stage. The low ceiling and brick walls keep the space intimate, while the programme changes often. Each season offers a mix of Austrian and foreign authors in short runs. The theatre’s modest size and experimental focus make every visit feel like discovery.