Stephanie Mohr: From Theater Director to World Traveler – Exploring Identity, Home, and Influence

2024-03-09 18:01:50

Theater director Stephanie Mohr always falls into a deep hole following premieres. It’s not just the reviews that bother her, she also feels like she’s no longer there when the work for the actors continues. That’s why she runs away as quickly as possible and dives into a world that has nothing to do with the theater.

As a child you lived in Italy, Finland, Vienna and Paris. Which country influenced you the most?

Stephanie Mohr: France. When I come to Paris, hear the language and the familiar sounds, notice this very special light and certain smells, I immediately feel safe in my childhood. I would most likely call this city my home, also because it was the first place where I lived for seven years in a row following we moved constantly before. Of course I also feel at home in Vienna because I have lived here for a long time and my mother is Viennese.

What was it like for you to return to Vienna as a teenager?

Horrifying. It was really bad. I was just 14 years old and had been torn away from my circle of friends. And I came from Paris, a big city that is cosmopolitan, where lots of people meet and there is a lot going on and the shops are always open. Vienna has changed over the past decades, but when we returned to Vienna in the winter of 1986, the city was still very gray and dreary. As soon as someone with a different skin color got on the subway, people turned around and stared away. It was all very strange to me, the atmosphere depressed me.

Have you accused your parents: “What have you done to me?”

Yes. But returning was also terrible for my mother; I wasn’t the only one who felt so uncomfortable.

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