Vienna's English Theatre

Originally intended as a summer theatre for English-speaking tourists, it won immediate acceptance by the Viennese public and extended its initial season to offer a year-round programme.

A highlight was the 1991 world premiere of Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize–winning Three Tall Women, directed by the author, which he dedicated to the memory of Franz Schafranek after his sudden death earlier that year.

Through its international recognition, the theatre has attracted stage and screen personalities to the Josefsgasse, among them Joan Fontaine, Anthony Quinn, Horst Buchholz, Linda Gray, Larry Hagman, Princess Grace of Monaco, Dame Anna Neagle, Siobhan McKenna and Judi Dench as well as Jean-Louis Barrault, Jeanne Moreau and Jean-Paul Belmondo who appeared for the Théâtre Français de Vienne.

French productions were added by Dr. Schafranek beginning in 1978, and the Teatro Italiano di Vienna was established in 1985 offering original works in Italian with stars such as Vittorio Gassmann and Andrea Jonasson.

Highlights of these recent years were Leslie Nielsen's guest appearance as Clarence Darrow, the European premiere of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize–winning play Proof by David Auburn, the South-African Musical Kat and the Kings, winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Musical 1999, Marie Jones’ Stones in His Pockets, Olivier Award 2001 for Best New Comedy, the return of the French actress Annie Girardot as Madame Marguerite, which won her the Molière for Best Actress, the European premiere of the latest play by the American dramatist Edward Albee The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia, as well as the Pulitzer Prize winners Doubt by John Patrick Shanley and God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza.