SOURCE: “The Scandal Maker: Thomas Bernhard and the Reception of Heldenplatz, in Modern Drama, Vol. 38, No. 3, Fall, 1995, pp. 378–88.

In the following essay, Kiebuzinska enumerates the many reasons for the controversy surrounding Bernhard’s Heldenplatz.

The violent discussions in reaction to Thomas Bernhard’s Heldenplatz (Heroes’ Square)¹ in the Austrian press even before its opening on 14 October 1988 (as the play selected to celebrate the one-hundredth-year anniversary of the Burgtheater) were influenced by a number of factors. The Burgtheater represents a tradition rooted in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the repertoire of the Burgtheater historically reflected that tradition. Consequently, the appointment, not too long before the commemorative celebrations, of the tradition-breaking German theater director Claus Peymann to what is considered the most prestigious and influential post in the performing arts in Austria set off heated discussions in the press about the nature and responsibility of the Burgtheater to foster Austrian culture...