Tight municipal budgets threaten summer theatre in Gutenstein and Perchtoldsdorf

Cash-strapped municipalities are putting summer theatre productions in Gutenstein and Perchtoldsdorf at risk, ORF reported. The Raimundspiele in Gutenstein will pause for at least the summer of 2027, while the future of the Sommerspiele Perchtoldsdorf remains uncertain.

Gutenstein Deputy Mayor Hildegard Ramberger said the Raimundspiele, a summer theatre event in the municipality, needed to be reorganised from the ground up. The municipality also faces a shortage of accommodation, and is working on a new concept. If the event returns, it will need a new artistic director. Norbert Gollinger, who led it for the past three summers, completed his contract after this year’s season.

Perchtoldsdorf’s Sommerspiele, a summer theatre event that marked its 50th anniversary this year, also faces financial pressure. Attendance was 70 percent, compared with an average of 88.4 percent across the 19 venues in the Theaterfest Niederösterreich programme for their main productions.

Lower ticket revenue and costs more than 50 percent above the municipality’s original estimate left a budget shortfall. The municipality had budgeted 120,000 euros and added 20,000 euros in spring because of rising costs. After the season ended, it needed a further 50,000 euros, which the municipal council approved last week.

Mayor Andrea Kö said representatives of all parties had expressed support for continuing the Sommerspiele. However, she said a significantly scaled-back version was the only financially defensible option. The next season’s plans remain unsettled: as of early October, no budget had been set, no artistic director appointed, no play selected and no cast assembled.

Gregor Gatscher-Riedl, head of the municipality’s cultural department and chair of the Sommerspiele association, said the event’s future scale was subject to considerable uncertainty. He described summer theatre in the area around Vienna as difficult to sustain compared with light summer comedy.

Director Alexander Paul Kubelka’s contract ends in October. His production of Till Eulenspiegel this year did not attract the expected audience. The municipal council’s motion said the production had been artistically successful but had drawn media criticism for its length, affecting ticket sales. Kubelka rejected that criticism and said he had long warned that the budget was too tight for a venue of this size. He also said the publicity value of his productions had exceeded their costs many times over.