The Planetenparty Prinzip is an Austrian theatre and performance collective founded in 2015 by Alexander Benke, Leonie Bramberger, Victoria Fux, Nora K hler, Moritz Ostanek, Miriam Schmid, Alexandra Schmidt, David Valentek and Nora Winkler in Graz, Austria. In a variety of forms and in collaboration with other artists and institutions, the group develops innovative, contemporary theatre productions. The Planetenparty Prinzip is not easy to categorise artistically as its style, technique and mode of presentation is constantly evolving from production to production. It is at times performative, at times theatrical, at times narrative, at times formal, at times interactive, at times immersive, at times dance, at times text, at times body, at times music, at times digital, at times analog, at times participatory, at times solo, at times megalomaniacal, at times reduced, at times subversive, at times accessible, at times large, at times small, at times quiet, at times loud, at times very little little, at times a lot, at times political, at times private and sometimes everything simultaneously. It is the malleable nature and openness to experiment, which distinguishes the collective. While each of the resulting works is unique, they all share a theatrical approach of methodically investigating societal concepts, taking formal and aesthetic risks and engaging with novel ideas through a sense of play, wonder, and humour. The audience is taken on a journey into the unknown, where they can repeatedly discover the Planetenparty universe.
Since 2017, the Planetenparty Prinzip has operated its own small theatre space in Graz, the “Planetarium,” which serves as a workspace for the group and is available for smaller events and exchanges. Additionally, the group performs in a variety of event spaces (Kristallwerk, Theater am Lend, Forum Stadtpark, and others) and frequently creates site-specific works in vacant or public spaces throughout Graz as well as in Vienna. The collective has been invited to festivals such as Steirischer Herbst, La Strada, SCHÄXPIR, Starke Stücke, and NewsOFFstyria and its productions have toured all over Austria and beyond. The Planetenparty Prinzip has established a name for itself in the field of Game Theatre through the international exhibitions of its immersive game formats and participation in Symposia and Congresses. During the Corona Pandemic, the collective conducted extensive research into the digital space and was invited to develop a virtual reality theatre production for the Staatstheater Augsburg. The collective was presented with a special prize by Assitej Austria’s board of directors in 2021.
