Es scheint, als wären die gemalten Figuren Hermann Kremsmayer’s immer schon da gewesen und als hätte es nur den Maler bedurft, um sie sichtbar zu machen. Die Figuren erinnern uns daran, dass wir Angehörige einer Zivilisation sind, die oft nicht weiß, aus welcher Tiefe sie gekommen ist, und sind, unter anderem, auch einer Anregung des Regisseurs Robert Quitta zu verdanken.

Der Ort als Inspiration
Der Nestroyhof wurde 1898 vom Architekten Oscar Marmorek im Jugendstil gebaut. Im darauf folgenden Jahr kam es zur Eröffnung des darin befindlichen "Wiener Vergnügungsetablissements" - die Nestroysäle. Neben einem Wirtshaus mit einer Art Bierhalle, gab es einen Wintergarten, der als Restaurant genutzt wurde, und einen Theatersaal: das "Intime Theater", später "Theater Reklame" und "Jüdische Künstlerspiele". Letztere wurden 1938 von den Nationalsozialisten geschlossen, das Haus arisiert. Durch eine Ironie der Geschichte ist das Theater im Nestroyhof gerade auf Grund seiner Jahrzehnte langen Nutzung als Supermarkt vor der Zerstörung bewahrt, und durch den Auszug desselben am Beginn des neuen Jahrhunderts wieder zum Vorschein gekommen- und somit ein architektonischer Zeuge einer glanzvollen Epoche.

It feels as if the figures are a natural occurunce, such is their identification with the place before they were painted by Hermann Kremsmayer and it seems, that there was only the painter needed, to make them visible and only he as an artist could have managed to whisk them to life. They remind us that we are members of a civilization that doesn't know the depths from which it came and they are here also, gratefully a suggestion by the producer Robert Quitta.

The locality of inspiration
Built in 1898 by Oscar Marmorek , the Nestroyhof was the architect’s first major Jugendstil venture, yet it is as quintessential of the contemporary style of the day as it is exquisite and expressive in its detail and structural design. A high example of architectural innovation, the Nestroyhof is among the first multifunctional buildings ever created. Incorporating a mid-sized theater, commercial business and office spaces, and private apartments into a single complex, the building stands at the vanguard of 20th Century urban architectural design.

Erected in the heart of the Leopoldstadt, at the center of a thriving cultural scene in the Praterstrasse, the Nestroyhof was renown for its role in Viennese Jewish theater until its seizure by the Nazis in 1938 and its full Aryanization in 1940.

Unlike other Jewish theaters in Vienna, the theater in the Nestroyhof survived 20th Century destruction by a series of lucky accidents. When the stage and auditorium were converted into a supermarket after WWII, the market owners simply built an internal shell of added walls and a low drop ceiling, effectively preserving the balcony, glass roof, and sumptuous architectural detail, while hiding it from view for decades. Even the thousands who bought their groceries there, year after year, were unaware that they were pushing their carts down the aisles and over the stage of the great old theater.

The last supermarket tenant moved out in the late 1990s and the space remained empty and sealed off from public access. It was rediscovered a few years ago when an opening in a section of the wall between the drop ceiling of the former supermarket and the original glass roof of the theater revealed, among other things, the balcony, boxes, and balustrades that run along all three sides of the auditorium. The drop ceiling of the former supermarket was finally removed in spring 2003, revealing a spacious, elegantly designed theater.