Theatre and Literary Critic Andrea Heinz Visits HSE University in Nizhny Novgorod

On October 1st, 2019 a meeting with theatre and literary critic Andrea Heinz was held at the Austrian library.  The event was part of the ‘Drama-talk’ project, organized within the Year of Literature and Culture of Austria in Russia. Students of Minin University, Nizhny Novgorod Dobrolyubov State Linguistic University and HSE University took part in the event.

Participants discussed modern drama and the leading playwrights of today. Andrea mentioned several shared themes and relevant issues in the works of German and Austrian authors. These themes include climate change, politics and other different aspects of modern society. The meeting was held in German, although Andrea speaks English and even a little Russian.

HSE students shared their impressions of the meeting with the Austrian theatre critic.

Alexandra Zapolina, 2nd-year student of the educational programme ‘Philology’:

‘I really liked the meeting with Andrea, although before coming to the event, I knew nothing about Austrian drama. I was mainly interested in the fact that the meeting was held in German. Despite the fact that it didn’t last too long, I got something of an idea about modern Austrian playwrights. In particular, I've become interested in the works of Kathrin Röggla. I also learnt about Andrea herself. It’s not every day that you meet an Austrian theatre critic! Overall, it was great and I hope similar events will be organised in the future.’

Alisa Khaba, 3rd-year student of the educational programme ‘Philology’:

‘The day before our meeting, we had a lecture by Andrea Heinz, as part of the ‘Dramatalk’ project, Due to some translation problems, this event lasted three hours instead of the scheduled one hour. It was therefore a pleasure to listen to Andrea speaking in German at the meeting at HSE University.’

Yulia Lifanova, 3rd-year student of the educational programme ‘Philology’:

‘I'm not sure I got everything that Andrea was speaking about, but I still managed to get a little closer to understanding modern German theatre. It was a real pleasure to listen to Andrea. She turned out to be a very open and positive person, and seemed to be genuinely interested in answering our questions.’

Polina Sikharulidze, 3rd-year student of the educational programme ‘Philology’:

‘It was very pleasant event. Andrea is a representative of the younger generation, that's why it was easy to understand her, even if not all the words were clear. Most of all I was surprised about the fact that there's a generation of contemporary German playwrights who are all about 30 years old. One day I hope to see their plays being performed (and to understand them even more).’