Wings in Vienna, Austria

Wings is off to Austria to perform at the 4th European and International Deaf Theatre Festival. Continue to watch this page as we chronicle our trip.

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Monday/Tuesday, 4/7-4/8

We all arrived at Dulles Airport between 3:30 and 4:00. The weather in DC was rainy and cold. We wondered if this was what it would be like in Vienna. Check-in went without incident. We made our way to the gate and stopped for a quick bite to eat at TGIFridays. (Good thing we did!)

We made our way to the gate about 6:00 and boarded the plane. Once settled on the plane, we waited patiently till 6:20 for take-off. We waited...and waited...two and half hours later we were still sitting on the ground at Dulles. Apparently, there was some problem with the braking system that had to be repaired. (Thank goodness!)

Flight was long. Small seats. Crying babies. Airplane food was passable. We slept if we could. We were thrilled to finally touch down on Viennese soil. ( 12.2 MB)

We went straight to our hotel. Very nice. We quickly unpacked and re-grouped to venture out into Vienna. We rode the submay system to Stephansdom, and looked around the area including St. Stephan's cathedral ( 4.7 MB), and the shopping areas. But mostly, we were in search of food. We split up in smaller groups and went separate ways. Most of us came back to the hotel for a quick nap before we had to leave for the theatre at night.

Because one of the groups scheduled to perform was unable to attend, the evening was a lecture relating the history of the Arbos Theatre. We were able to meet with the technical people briefly. Tomorrow we will go back in the morning for rehearsal starting at 9:00 am.

After some socializing at the theatre, the real socializing began as we walked to a nearby restaurant for food and drinks. We are tired but beginning to feel more awake now, unfortunately, it is now about midnight here in Vienna. So we take the public transportation back to our hotel for the night. Tomorrow will be a long and busy day that will include rehearsal, and ....SHOPPING!

Other photos:

• Banafsheh's arrival
• Willette's arrival

Wednesday/Thursday, April 9 and 10

Wednesday was spent doing lots and lots of walking! The group went to rehearsal in the morning starting at 9:00 am. This rehearsal focused on tightening up some aspects of our production. We were recently informed that we would be doing another performance of Wings outside of Vienna on Thursday night. It was a museum facility but we did not know what kind of space we would be performing in. Many people had said that it would be quite small.

Because I needed to find a cable for my computer, I ventured out into Vienna on my own. Though I had the name of the store that I needed to go to written on a piece of paper, and was reassured that it was quite famous and that anyone could direct me if I get lost, it seemed that no one that I asked knew where the store was. I managed in my journey to ride on all six lines of the underground subway system (some several times), and several rides on the tram system. I did see quite a lot on the travel though, including parts of the Museum Quarter. Because my knapsack was quite heavy, and I was tired, I finally gave in and decided to take a taxi back to the hotel after I had made my purchase.

Taxis can not be found just anywhere. You have to go to particular places to get them...so more walking to find a taxi stand. Finally, I got back to the hotel and was able to do work on the computer. I walked to the restaurant where I could use the internet with my computer.

Meanwhile, the group watches a videotape which is a summary of last year's festival here in Vienna. After that, they watch segments of a presentation by Daniel, a participant from Switzerland, who did a production in his country called "The Wild Child" based on the book by Harlan Lane. Very interesting.

The group then went to have lunch at a typical Viennese restaurant. The owner was very nice, and spoke no English. Many of the dishes were foreign to us, as well as to Daniel, who helped with the translations. Even some of the spices were not familair. The owner would bring the different foods out to the table to show us so that we would know what we were ordering. Very accommodating.

After lunch, the group set off on a walking tour/shopping tour of the city. We walked a lot but not too much shopping got done. Everyone was quite exhausted.

Everyone reconvened back at the theatre at 7:30. This evening there was a performance by our host group, Arbos Theatre. The piece was done in German, and in Austrian Sign Language. There was a theme relating to war in the play. It was very different from most anything any one of us had ever seen. We all went out to get dessert and drinks after the show and took the tram back to our hotel.

Thursday morning, we left for the theater for a workshop which started at 11:00 am. This workshop was to involve us and the other groups to develop a joint production to share. While this happened, Willette and Myra met with the technical staff to discuss the lighting for our show on Saturday. After the show, we all went to a nearby Italian Restaurant for lunch. Bon appetit! We took over the back room of the restaurant and had an Italian feast.

Immediately after lunch we left for St. Polten by train and car for our performance there that evening. It is a small, very pretty town about 50 miles away from Vienna. We performed at a new museum facility called the Landes Museum. When we arrived, we immediately started a rehearsal, while the people there set up some lights for us. We did a run-thru with lights and then it was time to do the show. Many deaf people in the area came to see the show, and they provided a buffet for us afterwards where we were able to hang out and mingle. We were given special permission to tour parts of the museum, which has modern art, history, and science components. We found a great inspiration for the name of our show. Andres summarized the whole day ( 350 KB).

Friday, April 11

What a day! It started off bright and early this morning with a call from home at 7:00 am wishing me Happy Birthday. I had been looking forward to spending my birthday in Vienna. First I had my usual breakfast in the hotel. I was still feeling a bit tired, so I followed it up with a special coffee, Viennese style. Then it was off to the theatre for the workshop that was happening. This workshop was led by Tim and would involve all the participants in tonight's show (or sharing). We had participants from Iceland and Austria. Folks were riveted. Some people came to observe and take notes. It was a wonderful workshop ( 2.7 MB) and everyone had a good time and learned alot. In addition, we developed a piece of new material to be presented that night.

After the workshop, everyone split up to go to lunch or to shop. Willette and I stayed at the theatre to focus the lights for the next day's show. We are all scheduled to meet back at the theatre at 6:00 for a quick run-thru of the evening's material with lights.

As it gets closer to 8:00, the lobby begins to fill with people (most of them smoking which they do everywhere in Vienna). When the house opens and people take their seats, it is absolutely SOLD OUT. Folding chairs had to be brought into the theater and placed around for some people to sit. The performance/sharing was a great success. The material presented by Iceland ( 2.1 MB) and Austria ( 1.0 MB) was varied and made a well-rounded program. Here is a picture of the whole gang (except me!)

Afterwards, everyone went to a nearby Spanish/Italian restaurant. Tim, Willette, and I stayed behind at the theater to work with Petr, the theater technician and prepped the lighting cues for Saturday. Once we had finished with that, we joined the others at the hotel. Many people were there: our group, hosts, and several folks from the audience. A few minutes after we sat down, suddenly a round cake appeared with a big candle in the middle and everyone started singing and signing "Happy Birthday" in several languages: English, German, American Sign Language and Austrian Sign Language. It was GREAT! I really enjoyed it. We hung out there at the restaurant for quite some time before making our way back to the hotel.

Saturday, April 12

Today is the day of our big performance. This morning we are all resting, which means that we are out having lunch or shopping! We will meet at the theater at 1:30 for tech rehearsal with lights. The lighting system is somewhat different and will be run manually. Our performance starts at 8:00 this evening.

This may be the last update before we return home to the US on Monday afternoon. So keep us in mind and wish us break a leg!

Sunday, April 13

Time for one last update!

The show last evening was quite a success! We received and encore and flowers. The audience comments included "Powerful"... "I was moved to tears"..."I've never seen anything like it"..." I was bombarded by images"..."It was the best show I saw at the festival".

Today most everyone slept late after a wild night of dancing and going out on the town. About 11:30 we all set out to see the incredible architecture of the Hunderwass Haus. We did some power souvenir shopping and saw a lot of the artwork of Gustav Klimpt. We went to an incredible open-air market that featured beautiful hand painted eggs. We walked to the Opera House and had tea and sachertorte at the famous Hotel Sacher across the street. Some of the cast plan to attend this evening's performance of the ballet at the Opera House.

On the way back to the hotel before dinner, we saw an interesting ashtray in the underground transit system.