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Parallel online readings in German and English of Elfriede Jelinek\u2019s new play ENDSIEG: THE SECOND COMING<\/em>\u2014a response to the re-election of Donald Trump. Directed by Milo Rau, English translation by Gitta Honegger. With introductory words by Elfriede Jelinek on the occasion of the Iraqi-American parallel reading, followed by a Q&A with Milo Rau and Gitta Honegger, moderated by Frank Hentschker, executive director of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center.<\/p>\n The\u202fMartin E. Segal Theatre Center\u202fin\u202fNew York City in collaboration with the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna presents on Inauguration Day an online reading of Elfriede Jelinek\u2019s\u202fENDSIEG:THE SECOND COMING<\/em>.\u202fTranslated by Gitta Honegger,\u202fdirected by Milo Rau,\u202fand livestreamed\u202fon the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network.<\/p>\n German version read by Ursina Lardi in\u202fMossul\/Iraq; American version by\u202fNicole Ansari-Cox in New York\/USA.<\/p>\n This online reading of\u202fENDSIEG: THE SECOND COMING<\/em>\u202fis the very first workshop presentation of the English version of the play. With generous permission of Rowohlt Publishing House, Hamburg, Germany.<\/p>\n Democracy is in\u202fa serious crisis\u202fand people are confused. Elfriede Jelinek responded to Donald Trump\u2019s second election victory with an important text:\u202fEndsieg<\/em>, a grim sequel to\u202fAm K\u00f6nigsweg \/ The Burgher King<\/em>, her play about the US election eight years ago.<\/p>\n Jelinek shows how his followers see the “new old king” as a divinely chosen redeemer. But the king is not alone, there are shadows behind him, his political and economic cliques, fighting for his attention and with each other. And the resistance is collapsing: “I say there is nothing more, there is nothing else, the other no longer exists, there is nothing to see, there is only the one left,” states the blind seer. So, what is left besides Jelinek\u2019s relentless exploration of our times?<\/p>\n The Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek received the 2004 Nobel Prize for Literature and many other prestigious literary and theatre awards. She is best known in the US from Michael Haneke\u2019s film The Piano Teacher <\/em>based on her novel Die Klavierspielerin. Since the Nobel award she has written only one novel, but many plays addressing urgent issues of our times. Her themes include the politics of memory and guilt (Rechnitz<\/em>); the 2008 global financial crisis, (Die Kontrakte des Kaufmanns<\/em>); the rapidly escalating European refugee crisis (Die Schutzbefohlenen<\/em>); the 2015 Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris (Wut<\/em>), her immediare response to Donald Trump\u2019s first election (Auf dem K\u00f6nigsweg<\/em>), followed now by Endsieg<\/em>, which she wrote within two weeks immediately after the election. Jelinek is one of the most produced living authors\/playwrights in the German language world. Her plays are presented by all the major theatre companies often staged by leading innovative directors. These productions have been invited to countless prestigious international festivals and received numerous awards. Her plays have also been produced across Europe, in Japan, India, Australia, and China. In the US the only fully professional staging was the 2013 New York Woman\u2019s Project Theatre\u2019s production of Jackie, directed by Tea Alagic. It was nominated for two Lucille Lortel awards, for outstanding solo show and outstanding sound design. Most recently, her opus magnum, the epic horror novel Die Kinder der Toten (The Children of the Dead) <\/em>about the undead victims and perpetrators of the Holocaust, was published in the US in Gitta Honegger\u2019s translation in March 2024 by Yale University Press, twenty-nine years after its first German publication. As of now, it has been (very perceptively) reviewed in the mainstream press by the Washington Post and The Nation. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Gitta Honegger\u202fis the longtime translator of Elfriede Jelinek.\u202fHer translations of Jelinek\u2019s performance texts include: Sun; Shadow: Eurydice Says<\/em> (both Performing Arts Journal); Rechnitz <\/em>(The Avenging Angel); the Merchant\u2019s Contracts\u2014A Comedy of Economics;\u202fCharges<\/em> (The Supplicants); Fury; On the Royal Road: The Burgher King<\/em>;\u202f(all Seagull Books\/U. of Chicago Press), the \u201cPrincess Plays\u201d Jackie, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty<\/em> (Theater), Air, Ashes, Full Disclosure<\/em> (forthcoming at Rowohlt Theaterverlag), Winterreise <\/em>(in process). Most recently, her translation of Jelinek\u2019s opus magnum, the 666-page novel\u202fThe Children of the Dead<\/em>\u202fwas published by Yale University Press in 2024. She also translated plays by Thomas Bernhard, Elias Canetti, Marie Luise Fleisser and others.\u202fHer cultural biography Thomas Bernhard: The Making of an Austrian (Yalu U. Press) was also published in her translation into German, Thomas Bernhard: Was ist das f\u00fcr ein Narr by Propyl\u00e4en Verlag. Dr. Honegger was a professor of dramaturgy and dramatic criticism at the Yale School of Drama and resident dramaturg at the Yale Repertory Theatre, here she also directed. She lives in Santa Fe and Berlin.<\/p>\n Nicole Ansari-Cox is an award winning actor, director, writer, producer and activist for Human Rights and Climate change. Nicole\u2019s career started in European theatre and film, and has expanded to many countries, languages and cultures, latterly mostly in the USA. She performed with the famed theatre du Soleil under Ariane Mnouchkine in Paris and on tour, and has starred in numerous plays in Vienna, Zurich, London, Berlin and NY. Nicole originated her role in Tom Stoppard\u2019s Rock N\u2019 Roll<\/em>, directed by Trevor Nunn at the Royal Court in London and went on to perform in the West End and on Broadway.\u202fNicole created and directed the multimedia show She\/ her<\/em> at Performance space for the 21st century in NY and brought the show to Edinburgh for a full run.\u00a0In London, Nicole was most recently seen in Women who blow on knots<\/em> at the Arcola Theatre and she is about to perform at the Haymarket in the Score<\/em>, opposite her husband Brian Cox, directed by Trevor Nunn. Film and TV: Soderbergh\u2019s Side Effects<\/em>; Land of Dreams, What a Feeling, Succession<\/em>; Law and Order, FBI,<\/em> amongst many others. Upcoming: Under the stars; Jukebox; Hotel Tehran<\/em> and Glenrothan<\/em>. Awards: Best director for the Web series Messy<\/em>; The Vanja Exerjian award for empowering women and AFI best ensemble for the Civil Rights feature Son of the South<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ursina Lardi, Member of the Schaub\u00fchne ensemble since 2012. Born in Samedan (Switzerland). Studied acting at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin.\u202fEngagements at the D\u00fcsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Schauspiel Hannover, Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg and the Berliner Ensemble.\u202fNumerous appearances in films and on television including in The White Ribbon<\/em> (2009, directed by Michael Haneke, Palme d\u2019Or at Cannes), Lore<\/em> (2012, directed by Cate Shortland, Lola in Bronze) and Der namenlose Tag<\/em> (2017, directed by Volker Schl\u00f6ndorff). Accolades include: 2006 Prize of the Eliette von Karajan Cultural Foundation, 2014 Swiss Film Award for Best Actress. Guest of honour with her own retrospective at the 2016 Solothurn Film Festival. 2017 Hans Reinhart Ring, the most prestigious Swiss award for theatre professionals. Together with Milo Rau, she has created Compassion. The History of the Machine Gun<\/em> (2015), Lenin<\/em> (2017), Everywoman<\/em> (2020), touring the whole world. Lardi and Rau are currently working on their latest play The Seer<\/em> in Mosul (Iraq), a co-production of the Vienna Festival, the Venice Biennale and the Schaub\u00fchne Berlin, premiering in June 2025.<\/p>\n Milo Rau, born 1977 in Bern, is the artistic director of the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna. Critics call him the “most influential” (Die Zeit), “most interesting” (De Standaard), “most controversial” (La Repubblica), “most scandalous” (New York Times) or “most ambitious” (The Guardian) artist of our time. The director and author has published over 50 plays, films, books and actions. His theatre productions have been shown at all major international festivals, including the Berlin Theatertreffen, the Festival d’Avignon, the Venice Biennale, the Vienna Festival and the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, and have been touring in over 30 countries worldwide. From 2018 to 2024 Milo Rau was Artistic Director of NTGent (Belgium).\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nAbout the Play<\/h3>\n
Bios<\/h3>\n