Thomas Bernhard Institute

Jederman, Mai 2025 | © PJS

The Thomas Bernhard Institute at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg is one of Austria's most renowned and innovative places to study contemporary theatre practice.

Three study programmes are offered at the Thomas Bernhard Institute: Acting, Directing and Applied Theatre. All three programmes include a comprehensive range of practical and theoretical subjects, all centred around project based artistic work. Students therefore learn essential technical skills in a real life context, as well as continually refining their reflective capabilities. Right from the outset, our students are free to develop their own artistic practice.

The three programmes encourage an understanding of theatre from different perspectives. Independent performance practice and research projects are just as much part of the studies at Thomas Bernhard Institute as the exploration of the dramatic repertoire, performative interventions in public space and lectures on recent political struggles. Transcultural cooperation and international exchange play an important role in the study programmes at theThomas Bernhard Institute and the department frequently co-operates with international partner institutions such as the Free SZFE Budapest and the E:UTSA network.

As a place of public assembly, theatre maintains strong ties to social reality. The work of the Thomas Bernhard Institute reflects this in both the rehearsal process and the academic debate, constantly addressing issues such as the responsibility and the function of theatre, care for oneself and for each other, recognition of difference and mutual appreciation, the distribution of resources and how to negotiate topics of diversity. Critical awareness and social, political and ecological problems build the common ground for artistic work at the Thomas Bernhard Institute.

Courses

At a glance

16
Productions per year
3
Venues
9
Rehearsal rooms
20
Graduates annually

News

  • 8.10.2026
    (Keine) Blaskapelle ohne Männer 

    Together with the audience, the performers explored the desire for and possibilities of change within and around a deeply rooted community such as the traditional brass band. How do we want to wear a dirndl? What do we do with all that marching music? Can we embrace Salzburg’s cultural traditions and shape them in a way that makes them relevant to us?

    Student project
  • 7.10.2026
    Königin der Nacht 

    In KÖNIGIN DER NACHT—An Archive of Salzburg’s Club Culture, the audience encounters three partygoers in a club. The three—a DJ, a party decorator, and a clubgoer—represent the ecstatic nightlife of the so-called City of Mozart.

    Student project
  • © Kasimir Bordasch
    28.9.2026

    Alumnus and director Alek Niemiro has been honored with several awards for emerging talent, including the 2025 Austrian Art Alumni Award. He wrote his first plays before he began his studies, and his work has taken him from Hamburg to Warsaw, Berlin, Konstanz, and Salzburg, where he staged “Echtzeitalter”—based on the novel by Tonio Schachinger—at the Schauspielhaus Salzburg this spring. A conversation about positive thinking, the blind spots on German-language stages, antiheroes, as well as the ability to compromise and take responsibility.

    Alumnae & Alumni Stories
  • Lea Oltmanns und Bundesministerin Eva-Maria Holzleitner | © Joanna Pianka
    22.9.2026

    Awards & Successes

Events

  • 19.10.2026
    07:30 pm
    Theater im KunstQuartier
    Practicing Care
    Zekamerone
    Szenische Lesung & Gespräch mit Maksim Znak (belarussisch/deutsch)
  • 5.11.2026
    07:00 pm
    Theater im KunstQuartier
    Absolvent*innenvorspiele
    Die Premiere des Vorsprechprogramms derAbsolvent*innen: 12 Schauspieler*innen präsentieren sich mit selbstgeschriebenen Songs und verschiedenen Solo- und Ensembleszenen. Ein Abend, der sich genauso wenig auf einen Nenner bringen lässt wie die 12 höchst unterschiedlichen Menschen auf der Bühne.
Artistic Theater Practice & Society

Applied Theatre

People

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Johannes Meißner | © Martina Jäger

Univ.-Prof. for Voice

Faculty
Andreas Greiml | © Christian Schneider
Andreas Greiml

Head of Events Management / Head of Technical Affairs / Lecturer in Stage Technology

Service department management
Employee
Faculty
Faculty
© Antonia Brix

Lecturer of of Directing (from October 2026)

Faculty

Lecturer in Voice Training

Guest lecturer

Lecturer in Voice Training

Guest lecturer
Stephan Pfister | © Christian Schneider
Stephan Pfister

Scheduling Coordinator / Assistant to the Head of Department / Lecturer in Cultural Management & Organisation of Work Processes

Employee
Faculty
Johanna Reider | © Martina Jäger
Employee
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