Silent film on stage

In 1926, the German director Ernst Lubitsch directed what turned out to be his final film for Warner Pictures Studios, a film titled So This Is Paris.

The film script was based on the 1872 French play Le Réveillon, which was also the basis for Johann Strauss’s operetta Die Fledermaus. It is a sophisticated silent film, a comedy about two married couples whose wandering eyes land on each other’s spouses.

The story is simple: Georgette lives in Paris with her unexciting, effeminate husband, an actor and interpretive dancer. Meanwhile, Suzanne lives across the street and reads romance novels while dreaming of someone more exciting than her own lackluster spouse, Maurice. Each woman happens across the other’s husband and begins her dream affair. Four people, each cheating on their spouse, and none of them is aware that their own spouse is cheating. Who will find out first, and how?

SO THIS IS VIENNA! is a live staging of Lubitsch’s film, but this time, instead of the typical silent movie score, Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus music comes to the rescue.

The Lubitsch/Strauss mashup is a sardonic approach to spouse-swapping, forest trysts, erotic romance novels, out-of-control champagne-fueled dance parties, and accidental prison sentences. In short, it is a modern confectionery of sorts.

Performers: Stephanie Cumming, Alexander Gottfarb, Susanne Gschwendtner, Suzie Leger, Tobias Resch, Anat Stainberg, Florian Tröbinger, Markus Zett
Music: Michael Strohmann
Stage design: Paul Horn
Lighting: Lucas Gruber
Costumes: Susanne Bisovsky
Make-up: Marietta Dang
Written and directed by Yosi Wanunu
Produced by Kornelia Kilga and Camilla Henrich

Co-produced by Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna. Collaboration with the Filmarchiv Austria.