Schauspielhaus Wien, Performance theatre in Alsergrund district, Vienna, Austria

Schauspielhaus Wien is a theatre at Porzellangasse 19 in Vienna's 9th district, Alsergrund. It occupies the basement space of a former cinema that had 597 seats in its final year. The house stages contemporary spoken drama, and its 2023/24 season is led by a four-person collective: Marie Bues, Martina Grohmann, Tobias Herzberg and Mazlum Nergiz.

The building opened in the early 20th century as a variety club, then became a cinema that ran until 1975. After that, it was converted into a spoken-word theatre and has focused on contemporary drama ever since.

The house's name recalls its past: the basement of Porzellangasse 19 held the Heimat-Kino and later Citta 2000 cinema until 1975. Since 2003 the campaign Hunger auf Kunst und Kultur has opened performances to people on low incomes, and Theater für Alle, begun in 2005 with the University of Vienna, trains cultural assistants to make shows accessible to blind and partially sighted visitors.

The programme changes regularly, so it is worth checking the season in advance and booking seats early. The theatre sits in the lively Alsergrund neighbourhood and is easy to reach by public transport.

The building began as a basement variety club, became one of Vienna's first cinemas, and showed films from 1913 to 1975 as Heimat-Kino and Citta 2000, with 597 seats in its final year. The theatre opened in the same rooms on 4 May 1978 with Jean Genet's Der Balkon.