toxic dreams

The Art of Asking your Boss for a Raise

brut nordwest
Performance / Theatre World premiere in English | Accessible Venue
{Corporate and desperate} {Lost in algorithms} {What if …?}

In The Art of Asking Your Boss for a Raise, toxic dreams take the audience on an absurd trip across an anonymous corporate universe. As a minor employee decides to ask his boss for a raise, he finds himself lost in the internalised conditional loops of his corporation’s organisational logic. A comedy, sugared with moments of slapstick, and a contemplative reflection on life in the algorithm and the passing of time.

, © Tim Tom

toxic dreams – The Art of Asking your Boss for a Raise

, © Tim Tom

toxic dreams – The Art of Asking your Boss for a Raise

, © Tim Tom

toxic dreams – The Art of Asking your Boss for a Raise

, © Tim Tom

toxic dreams – The Art of Asking your Boss for a Raise

, © Tim Tom

toxic dreams – The Art of Asking your Boss for a Raise

, © Tim Tom

toxic dreams – The Art of Asking your Boss for a Raise

The Art of Asking Your Boss for a Raise is based on the identically named novel by Georges Perec. Pessimistic yet lovable, funny and always entertaining, Perec takes a pervasive look at the world of office work, no less accuratet today than in 1968, when the story was written. The author extracted six allegorical characters from the employee's inner voices, which director Yosi Wanunu now sends through an absurd and tragicomic choreography of aimlessness and timelessness, in which they move from one crazy and surprising scenario to the next. Stage and sound design also allow the audience to immerse deep into the absurd cosmos of an open-plan office, from the screeching scanner to the rattling shredder.

toxic dreams was established in 1997 by producer Kornelia Kilga and writer/director Yosi Wanunu. The group has since put on more than 70 productions. In perennial work cycles and collaborative procedures, toxic dreams devise both aesthetically and formally diverse formats. Their current cycle is entitled Real Fiction and deals with the meaning of the (political) narrative between the poles of truth and fiction.

Pressestimmen

"The most delightful set is currently built up in The Art of Asking Your Boss for a Raise. [...] An absurdly charming evening with funny choreographic elements." (Falter)

"A humorous statement about the modern world of employment that hits the mark." (ORF Kultur heute)

"An entertaining ironic commentary on the unwritten rules of the corporate world [...]. The stage design is a work of art in itself, evoking memories of Jacques Tati's classic film Playtime." (APA)

"The works of Yosi Wanunu, no matter which shape they assume, are carried by great irony and lightness." (Falter)

"This is how Perec's literary formal experiment was loaded with content and yet remained quirky like the original." (Wiener Zeitung)

"Jagged business choreographies bring movement into play, current references [...] spice things up politically." (Falter)

Credits

Cast

1. The assumption Anat Stainberg
2. The alternative Isabella Händler
3. The positive hypothesis Florian Tröbinger
4. The negative hypothesis Theresa Martini 
5. The selection Stephanie Cumming
6. The conclusion Markus Zett
7. The measles Anna Mendelssohn

Stage Paul Horn Sound design Michael Strohmann Text Georges Perec  Adapted for the stage and directed by Yosi Wanunu Assistant director Katharina Höltermann Production Kornelia Kilga

Loosely based on L’art et la manière d’aborder son chef de service pour lui demander une augmentation by Georges Perec, Editions Fayard, France. English translation by David Bellos, Verso Books, GB.

A co-production by toxic dreams and brut Wien.

With the kind support of the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport.

Dates & Tickets

brut nordwest
Nordwestbahnstraße 8-10, 1200 Vienna

Event recommendations

01.10.2021 - 08.10.2021

Andrea Gunnlaugsdóttir

AIRY MATTERS

Film / Installation
World premiere
in English

01.10.2021 - 08.10.2021

Sööt Zeyringer

Connecting Views

A postcard project

exhibition / Installation
in English

02.10.2021, 18:30

Frida Robles and Lasse Mouritzen

THIS PLACE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

Artist Talk with Frida Robles

Presentation of the light installation
in English

Magazin

Archiv

YOU TOXIC TUBE CLASS #1: HOW TO ACT DEAD

toxic dreams present a very special acting masterclass. Instructor Markus Zett shares his knowledge of "How to act dead".
Archiv

YOU TOXIC TUBE CLASS #2: HOW TO CRY ON CUE

toxic dreams present a very special acting masterclass. Demonstrator Isabella Händler shows you how to cry on cue.
Archiv

YOU TOXIC TUBE CLASS #3: HOW TO BE A GOOD STAGE ACTRESS

toxic dreams present a very special acting masterclass. Demonstrator Anat Stainberg shows you how you can be a good stage actress.
March 2024
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
        01 02 03
04 05 06 07 08 09 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31

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)

April 2024
Handle with care with Mzamo Nondlwana
April 2024
Mzamo Nondlwana
Turning Point
April 2024
Daniela Georgieva
Fluscia
May - June 2024
Nesterval
The Pink Triangle

Meeting point: Gasthaus Hansy at Praterstern

accessible 

Heinestraße 42 , 1020 Vienna
Subway: U1, U2 (Praterstern) / S-Bahn: S1, S2, S3, S4, S7 (Praterstern) / Tram: 5 (Praterstern)

May - June 2024
Out and about featuring QWIEN
The Nameless of Leopoldstadt

brut at Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien

accessible

Freyung 8, 1010 Vienna
Subway: U1 (Stephansplatz), U2 (Schottentor), U3 (Herrengasse) / Tram: 1, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 (Schottentor) / Bus: 1A, 2A (Herrengasse U), 3A (Renngasse)

June 2024
Aldo Giannotti in Collaboration with Karin Pauer
HOUSE OF CONSTRUCTS

Rote Bar at Volkstheater

accessible

Arthur-Schnitzler-Platz 1, 1070 Vienna
Subway: U3 (Volkstheater) / Tram: 49 (Volkstheater) / Bus: 48A (Volkstheater)

June 2024
Arno Böhler, Susanne Valerie Granzer, Sabina Holzer & Florian Reiners
RED MATTERS OF THE *HEART*

brut at Sportplatz 1210

accessible

Jedlersdorfer Platz 25, 1210 Vienna
Subway U6 (Florisdorf) / S-Bahn: S1, S2, S3, S4, S7 (Floridsdorf) / Tram: 30, 31 (Brünner Straße / Hanreitergasse) / Bus: 30A, 32A (Toni Fritsch Weg)

June 2024
Theater im Bahnhof
RUNNING OUT

studio brut

not accessible

Zieglergasse 25, 1070 Wien
Subway: U3 (Zieglergasse), Tram: 49 (Westbahnstraße / Zieglergasse)

April - May 2024
Claudia Lomoschitz
Vibrant Void

brut nordwest – rehearsal space

not accessible

Nordwestbahnstraße 8-10, 1200 Vienna

May 2024
Handle with care with Jaskaran Anand
June 2024
A temporary collective of students and artists from the Department of Site-Specific Art / University of Applied Arts Vienna
Exactly as Imagined