Ensemble

Isabella Chromy

Born and brought up in Vienna, she graduated from a technical college for Telecommunication and New Media. Since June 2002 she works for the mobile Operator Hutchison 3G Austria as Lead of the IT Products & Service Enablerteam. At Christmas 1996 she attended a performance of “Ritter Kamenbert” together with her nephew Alexander. From this moment on she was fascinated by marionettes and started her training at the MARIONETTE THEATRE SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN.
In 1997 she joined the ensemble and since that day she has played with great pleasure and enthusiasm leading and supporting parts in Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute”.

Maria Drabits

She grew up in Orth, which is a litte village at the river Danube, located in Lower Austria.
When she had finished her education at a teachers’ training college in Vienna she worked in catering industry and trade for several years.
Since 2000 she has been a member of the string puppet theatre ensemble of Schönbrunn. Among her roles are: Pamina and Papagena in "The Magic Flute" and recently also the pink fairy in "A little night music" both by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Saviz Foroughi

Saviz was born in Teheran, Iran. She always had a passion for arts, especially theatre. After she had received her diploma at the University Schiraz as a medical-lab-assistant, she decided to study dramatic arts at the University of Teheran. During her studies she already worked as a stage design assistant, assisted the director and also functioned as a puppeteer in TV shows and theatre performances.
In 1998 she married and left Teheran for Vienna, where her husband already lived since 1990. Because of her lively passion for theatre she joined the company of the Marionette Theatre Schloss Schönbrunn in 1999. Since then she has animated marionettes in many different performances like the "The Magic Flute", "Johann Strauss" or "Aladdin".

Isabell Francisci-Ragger

Isabell was born in Völkermarkt, Carinthia, and came to Vienna later on as a University student. In 1997, while looking for a student job, she found herself a job at the Marionette Theatre Schloss Schönbrunn. She actually started out working at the ticket counter but was fascinated by the art of moving the marionettes pretty soon. She still remembers her first big part as the parrot "Koko" in "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp" very well. By now she works as a full-time professional puppeteer and has accompanied the theatre on tours to Darmstadt, Tehran and Athens. In the current repertoire, Isabell animates the widest variety of puppets - in the opera "The Magic Flute" she plays the parts of Tamino, Papageno and Sarastro.

Christine Hierzer-Riedler

Christine was born in Wels, Upper Austria, but grew up in Salzburg. After finishing a college of economics, she joined the ensemble of the Marionette Theatre Salzburg in 1976 as a puppeteer and costume tailor.
In 1991 she and Werner Hierzer founded an independant marionette touring company.
In 1994 the MARIONETTE THEATRE SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN opened it´s gates, the company has finally found a permanent theatre venue for year-round performances. During the past years a repertoire got established for which more than 300 marionettes are required. Christine Hierzer is responsible for the costume tailoring and, together with Werner Hierzer, for the management and business administration of the theatre. Also functioning as a trainer, she passes her experience of the manipulation of marionettes on to her apprentices.
In a career spanning more than 30 years, apart from countless tours throughout Europe, her work has taken her to the USA, Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong, Tehran and Beijing.
The repertoire of the theatre offers her many appealing roles, but her most beloved are princess Pamina, the Queen of the Night and Papagena in Mozart´s opera "The Magic Flute". She loves to animate them.

Werner Hierzer

Born in Gleisdorf, Styria, Werner finished an economic and commercial higher education.
In 1974 he moved to Salzburg for professional reasons, and came into close contact with the Marionette Theatre there. In 1975 he joined their ensemble as a marionette player and he also started working in the theatre's various workshops.
In 1991 he founded a touring theatre company together with Christine Hierzer and later, in 1994, they founded the MARIONETTE THEATRE SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN in Vienna.
Werner is responsible for the production of the marionettes and the scenery, as well as for technical work and musical arrangements. Together with Christine, he manages the theatre.
In countless hours of apprentice training he has passed on much of his many years of marionette playing experience. As a puppeteer he has travelled to the USA, Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong, Paris, Rome, Tehran and Beijing. Within the Marionette Theatre's repertoire he animates the main characters. In Mozart's "The Magic Flute" he plays mainly the role of Papageno, but sometimes also Tamino, Sarastro or Pamina.

Claudia Hisberger

Born and raised in Lower Austria, Claudia discovered her love for theatre at the age of 10 when she was part of the Ensemble 83 at the "Burgspiele Hainburg".
After grammar school she got a professional training as an actress at "Graumannschule".
From 1986 to 1995 she worked as a puppeteer at the Theatre "Moki", in theatres in Austria and on festivals all around the world. She also produced various plays by herself. Since 1988 she has cooperated with the Song Song Song Children Theatre Vienna and Taiwan.
Although she had already made her first experiences with marionettes in Prague she discovered her passion for marionettes only a few years later at the MARIONETTEN THEATER SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN. She has been a member of the ensemble since 1995.

Stefan Jurasek

Stefan was born in Vienna in 1939. When he was a little boy he already developed a passion for Marionettes.
When he attended primary school he already was a frequent visitor at a marionette theatre in Vienna's 18th district. He started to convert his hand-puppets into marionettes and asked his mother if she could get him invisible threads because he had not seen them in the theatre.
At the age of 18 he wanted to become an actor. But because of his love to a woman he decided to chose a "decent" profession and became an office-manager. In 1964 he became a member of a Viennese marionette theatre called "Der Regenbogen". Since 1994 he is part of the MARIONETTENTHEATER SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN ensemble where he plays Sarastro in "The Magic Flute" or the king in "Ritter Kamenbert".

Bernadette Kizik

Bernadette Kizik was born in Vienna. Being the daughter of our puppeteer Claudia Hisberger, she grew up with the MARIONETTENTHEATER SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN. Since the age of four she has been a frequent visitor at performances and rehearsals.
She does trainings for ballet and musical at the Konservatorium Vienna. Furthermore she has also gained experience as an actress in a couple of films.
Since September 2006 Bernadette is part of the ensemble of MARIONETTE THEATRE SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN. In Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute" she plays the parts of the 2nd lady, the 2nd boy and various animals.

Agnieszka Klodnicka-Salamon

Agnieszka Salomon was born in 1975 close to Wroclaw, Poland. In 1996 she began to study drama at the L'Art Studio in Krakau. In 2000 she gained a B.A. in drama with a focus on puppet-theatre at the University of Drama in Breslau. Until today she has gained a lot of experience at various theatres and in film-productions. She has also developed her skills in the art of animating the marionettes. She is a member of MARIONETTENTHEATER SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN since 2002. In addition to her numerous engagements as actress she plays the parts of the second lady, the boy and the animals.

Walter Kukla

Walter was born in Vienna. At the end of his education at the school for gardening and landscape design, he fell in love with the world of theatre. After some stage performances in schools he started a professional training as an actor at the drama school "Graumanntheater" and improved his education with private lessons. At the same time he began to play in many different theatre-groups, he also participated in theatre performances especially created for children where he eventually came in touch with puppet and marionette theatres.
Walter also played small roles in film and television. As a member of sveral theatres he went on numerous tours and attended festivals e.g. in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia, Cyprus, Taiwan etc.
In 2000 he founded the theatre group "Musiktheater Animato" together with Christiana Bild. They produced and performed different opera performances for children and young adults in Austria, Germany and Brazil.
Since 1995 he is a marionette player at the MARIONETTES THEATRE SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN. In that same year he played the yellow lady and Tamino in the premiere of "The Magic Flute". He finished his intensive work at the theatre in 1999 and since that he is a welcome guest player.

Lukas Lauermann

Lukas Lauermann was born in Vienna in 1985 and grew up in Lower Austria. Since eight years he is a member of the MARIONETTENTHEATER SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN. After grammar school he played at the string orchestra of the "Gardemusik Wien". Since 2003 he is studying the violoncello at the University for Music and Drama in Vienna to become a music teacher.
Lukas has already gained a lot of experience as a musician, playing at many concertinos, concerts for chamber music and orchestra as well as pop-concerts. He also produces recordings for film and radio.

Wiebke Lüders

Wiebke spent her childhood in a small village located in the north of East Germany between Berlin and Hamburg. As soon as she had finished school she moved to the University town of Marburg to become a student of Celtic studies, graphics & painting and German literature & language. Because of her great interest in Irish culture, literature and language she decided to continue her Celtic studies at Trinity College Dublin and eventually went to Vienna to finish her studies there. In Vienna she also set about her further studies of conservation & restoration at the Acadamy of Fine Arts with a focus mainly on restoration of musical instruments. Her fascination in puppetry led her to the MARIONETTENTHEATER SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN, where she started out working at the ticket counter and became a member of the theatre's ensemble in November 2006, still enjoying to play mainly the role of the yellow lady in "The Magic Flute".

Antonia Petz

Antonia was born in Ehrwald, Tyrol. When she had finished her commercial education she studied sculpture (with focus on wood) in Tyrol. Then she moved to Vienna. In 1996 she first came across MARIONETTENTHEATER SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN. She was fascinated by the way the figures were animated and soon she learned to move the marionettes. Until 1999 Antonia Petz played the part of Tamino and also worked as sculptor for the productions "Ritter Kamenbert" and "Sissi".
After a break of some years Antonia Petz retourned to our company in 2007.
Until 2003 she had been involved in pantomime and dance. She used to be a member of the ensemble of "Der Apfelbaum", "Stöberkiste", "GHW Dance Company" and "Objekttheater Peter Ketturkat". She got the highest award at the International Puppet-Festival in Teheran in 2001 for her sculptures for "Leonardo Sala Baden", a vaudeville show for marionettes.
Since 2003 Antonia Petz is a freelance-artist who is working in Austria and abroad.

Lisa Pippan

Born in Klagenfurt and brought up in Carinthia, which is located in the beautiful southern part of Austria, Lisa finished school and spent one year in the U.S.A. working as an Au-Pair girl afterwards. When she returned to Austria, she started studying art history at the Vienna University and also studied ceramic art at the University of Applied Arts afterwards. One day she took a walk at the Schönbrunn Palace grounds and serendiptiously came across the Marionette Theatre - and stayed there! She started out working at the ticket counter and "rehearsed" her way into the theatre's ensemble. Ever since she has gained some experience working in the theatre's workshops, producing marionettes and scenery. A life without marionettes is no longer imaginable for Lisa! In addition to her first role, the prince Tamino in Mozart's "The Magic Flute", Lisa is also rehearsing further roles and is looking forward to going on tour with the MARIONETTE THEATRE SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN, which is also enabling her to bring this very special art form to many people of various cultures all over the world.

Theresa Prem

Theresa Prem was born in 1990 in Salzburg, where she also grew up. Currently she attends a technical college. Theresa is the niece of Christine and Werner Hierzer, so she became accustomed to the world of theatre at a very early age. Since the first opening of MARIONETTENTHEATER SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN Theresa was present at all premieres and new productions. As a young girl she joined the performances and learned by watching the other puppeteers backstage - soon she started a training to become a marionette player herself.
Since summer 2006 Threresa Prem is part of the ensemble. In Mozart´s "The Magic Flute" she plays the 2nd lady, the 2nd boy and also different animals.

Rudi Schwarzenberger

Brought up on a farm in Freistadt, Upper Austria, Rudi left home after finishing secondary school in order to study in Vienna. Since 1991 he has been working as a primary school teacher. Along with teaching mathematics and german, Rudi shares his fondness for photography, radio, theatre and the circus with his pupils. Fascinated by the Marionette's Theatre, he began his training as a puppeteer at the MARIONETTE THATRE SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN where he is a member of the ensemble since 1996. He plays a wide range of roles throughout the entire repetoire of the theatre. In Mozart´s "The Magic Flute" for example he plays Tamino and Papageno alternately.
A highlight in Rudi's career as a puppeteer was when he played a corpse in an episode of the crime series "Kommissar Rex" - his charakter got "stabbed" while playing the marionettes.

Ute von Maurnböck

Ute was born in a small town close to Vienna. After finishing University with a B.A. in Linguistics and Russian-studies she started to work as a free-lance journalist and presenter of radio shows. As a writer she contributes articles to various magazines. Ute is also one of the initiators of "Neubauer Rundfunk", a local viennese radio station. Ute worked for a puppet theatre in Vienna's famous amusement park "Prater" before she joined the MARIONETTE THEATRE SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN in 1995. She plays various roles in "Aladdin", "A Little Night-Music" and she wrote the lyrics for "Müllaria".

Georg Angerer

Georg Matthias Angerer was born in 1996. A performance by the “Marionette Theatre” at a Schönbrunn Palace Festival in 1998 marked the beginning of his enthusiasm for the art of marionette puppetry. Numerous visits of theatrical performances and his homemade marionettes helped him to retain this enthusiasm until he had grown enough to practice with the real figures on the bridge of the Marionette Theatre. By now he is able to take over some minor puppetry tasks in the performance of "The Magic Flute".
In 2006 he lead the marionettes of "Bastien" and "Bastienne" as well as a puppet of "Wolfgang Amadé Mozart" the composer himself in performances of the opera especially arranged by his grandfather, the musician Paul Angerer, for the historic theatre of Grein on the Danube. Together with Christine Hierzer, Georg was allowed to take over the part of "Katerotti" in performances of the "Cat’s duet" by Rossini. In his spare time Georg preferes to read and listen to detective stories but also loves to do outdoor activities like skiing or riding his bicycle.

Desislava Gudjunova

Desislava was born in Bulgaria. She discovered her love for dancing at a verly early age and attended the State School for Choreography in Sofia. She enrolled in several courses at the National Academy in Sofia and at the University of Vienna. She has gained a lot of dancing- and acting- experience and since 2007 she is a member of the ensemble of MARIONETTENTHEATER SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN where she is currently improving her skills, playing the second lady, the second boy and various animals.

Roman Tanzer

Roman is a self-employed webdesigner and he joined the marionette's theatre in april 2007 as a website-caretaker, picture editor and pc doctor. He loves stories and the play of the marionettes.