The Vast Land

A seemingly harmless affair, an unexpected suicide: Suddenly, the life plans of the circle surrounding the wealthy industrialist Friedrich Hofreiter begin to unravel. What begins as an everyday tragicomedy evolves in Arthur Schnitzler’s work into a panorama of human relationships teetering on the brink of the abyss. Desires and vanities collide, and amidst a dazzling web of affairs, power games, and self-deception, the question arises as to whether a fulfilled life is even possible in this world. Schnitzler paints a subtle yet unsparing portrait of a society that, on the eve of World War I, restlessly seeks fulfillment yet repeatedly fails because of its own shortcomings.

Following her acclaimed production of*Desire*, Cilli Drexel returns to the Tyrolean State Theater and once again takes on a major ensemble piece. Her signature style—characterized by psychological precision, subtle irony, and an unflinching gaze at the characters’ inner fragility—meets a play whose complexity reveals what is all too human. Together with the actors of the TLT, she explores the emotional vastness between passion and emptiness, between self-protection and self-deception, and between the desire for closeness and the fear of consequences.