How to respond? Some choose to withdraw into their private lives to avoid being confronted with these problems. Others begin to get increasingly involved.
For some years, there have been indications of a concurrent paradigm shift in the arts. Art - and thus, the theatre - is returning
from its exploration of the private: the desire for its political efficacy is in sharp contrast with the new Biedermeier.
That is why this year's Dramatists' Festival Graz will address the tension between the theatre as a public and political place
of assembly and the trend to withdraw into the private sphere. This is already illustrated by the venues it has chosen: private
houses, theatres and public spaces in Graz and all over Styria. The festival sets out to find new perspectives on form and
content, presenting work that originates from this search.