Due to the grand success in 2010, the Salzburger Festspiele again hosted four evening events of theater, gastronomy, and elegance during August, 2011. Nestled between the quaint pavilions and majestic oaks, guests savored their gourmet picnics, out on the green. As the sun set, selected acting students from Salzburg’s Mozarteum performed "Short Cuts" from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. When dusk fell, Reinhardt’s famous 1935 Hollywood film version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (featuring James Cagney & Mickey Rooney) was shown, in its original version, on an open-air screen on the shore of lake Leopoldskron.

During these evening events, the guests have been given the rare opportunity of experiencing a taste of the atmosphere, culture, and romance, which Max Reinhardt so skillfully and devotedly nurtured at Schloss Leopoldskron, while inhabiting the palace.

The ticket price included dinner, consisting of a truly unique "picnic basket” filled with delicacies. In the case of rain, the greenhouse nursery of the Kunstgärtnerei Doll once again served as the alternate venue.

Premiere: August 7, 2011
Additional performances on August 9, 11, and 15, 2011

(from 2011 Festival Program) http://www.salzburgerfestspiele.at/schauspiel/sommernachtstraum-2011

For photos and details about the 2010 Midsummer Night's Dream, click here

History of "Dichter zu Gast" (Writers in Residence)

In August 2007, the Salzburg Global Seminar and Salzburg Festival established a formal partnership program called Dichter zu Gast, recasting an important historical relationship. From 1918 to 1938, Schloss Leopoldskron was owned by Max Reinhardt, the co-founder of the Salzburg Festival and former Director of the Deutsches Theatre (German Theatre, Berlin). Over twenty years, Reinhardt restored Schloss Leopoldskron to its current splendor, revitalizing the palace and creating the Library, the Venetian Room, and a garden theatre. Reinhardt used Leopoldskron for theatre productions and as gathering place for writers, actors, composers, and designers from around the world. It was inside Schloss Leopoldskron that the idea for the Salzburg Festival was born.

The first Writers in Residence, in August 2007, were the American writers and Pulitzer Prize winners Jeffrey Eugenides, author of Middlesex, and Richard Ford, author of The Sportswriter, Independence Day, and Lay of the Land.

In 2008, the Writers in Residence were the Turkish Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, author of The White Castle, The Black Book, The New Life, My Name is Red, and Snow; and the Bulgarian/Austrian writer Dimitré Dinev, author of Ein Licht über dem Kopf and Das Haus des Richters. Complete 2008 program available.

During Reinhardt's time, Schloss Leopoldskron served as the creative and artistic salon of the Festival - a place for free and creative encounters and conversations. In the historic ambiance of the Schloss, contemporary issues were discussed and artistic projects were reviewed and conceptualized. Many of the projects conceived at Leopoldskron would also substantially shape the direction and program of the Festival in years to come.

The third group of Writers in Residence, in August 2009, were the Austro-German writer Daniel Kehlmann, author of Die Vermessung der Welt (Measuring the World), British playwright and author Tom Stoppard, who wrote The Coast of Utopia and co-authored the screenplays for Brazil and Shakespeare in Love, and the British writer Adam Thirlwell, author of Politics, and Miss Herbert.

During August of 2010, Claudio Magris was in residence at Schloss Leopoldskron.
He held public readings and discussions at the Landestheater and the Mozarteum.
click here for additional information

"Therewith, the historic arc that spans between Leopoldskron and the Festival district since the Reinhardt era, is being revitalized." (translated)
                                                               - Gabi Burgstaller, Governor of Salzburg Provence