Nestroy Special Prize for DARUM (Victoria Halper & Kai Krösche)
We are delighted to announce that the collective DARUM (Victoria Halper & Kai Krösche) has been awarded the Nestroy Special Prize 2025 for its performative VR installation [EOL]. End of Life. The immersive work on digital legacy issues, memory and transience convinced the jury as a ‘forward-looking theatre experience’ that exceptionally combines technology, performance and social relevance. Since its premiere at studio brut, the production has been invited to renowned festivals – including the Berlin Theatertreffen, the Impulse Theater Festival and the nachtkritik.de Theatertreffen – and has been widely acclaimed as one of the outstanding productions of 2024. We warmly congratulate DARUM on this special award and thank everyone involved and all supporters.
The jury justified its nomination for [EOL]. End of Life as follows:
“The Viennese theater collective DARUM leads us into a digital landscape of ruins, which we enter wearing VR glasses. We are alone in this virtual setting, which constantly forces us to act – we must decide which worlds will be permanently deleted. Each visitor stands on 9.6 square meters. That’s how much space you occupy in the real theatre space – and yet it feels as if you have traveled through distant galaxies. Victoria Halper and Kai Krösche have developed these abandoned computer worlds with incredible attention to detail. With [EOL]. End of Life, they take immersive theatre to a new, digital level – while remaining true to their core theme: they mostly tell touching stories of outsiders that stay with their audience long after the show is over. [EOL]. End of Life was the most amazing and ludicrous solo trip you could experience this season.” Karin Cerny
The decision will be announced on 23 November 2025 during the festive gala. More about the Nestroy Prize 2025
We congratulate Victoria Halper, Kai Krösche and everyone involved in the production on this outstanding achievement and would like to thank all our supporters, partners and the audience!
Events
DARUM (Victoria Halper & Kai Krösche)
[EOL]. End of Life
Eine virtuelle Ruinenlandschaft
(A Virtual Ruinscape)
brut all over Vienna
brut nordwest
accessible
Nordwestbahnstraße 8-10, 1200 Vienna
Subway: U1, U2 (Praterstern), U4 (Friedensbrücke), U6 (Dresdnerstraße) Tram: 5 (Nordwestbahnstraße) Bus: 5A (Wasnergasse)
accessible
studio brut
not accessible
Zieglergasse 25, 1070 Wien
Subway: U3 (Zieglergasse), Tram: 49 (Westbahnstraße / Zieglergasse)
not accessible