World Premiere
Despite existing as a town for the better part of a millennium, Branau in Austria has spent the last 128 years under a shadow for its small part in Adolf Hitler's history, infamously being the Nazi leader's place of birth. Playwright Dipika Guha's new play imagines a new future for the town, specifically the house itself when she places Justin and Sarah, an American hipster couple in charge of the lease, with plans to turn it into a diverse guesthouse, for people from all walks of life to converse and contemplate over dinner. Can such a location shed its past, or will the venture be doomed from the off?
In reality, the house has undergone many changes throughout the years, begining as a Nazi cultural center with library and art gallery during the Third Reich, to a daycare center for the disabled in more recent years. Despite many calls to demolish the house, Austria's government have, as of July 2017, announced plans to renovate the property beyond recognition and give it over to a charity for learning difficulties.
