Field research

Radishes and lettuce — as long as it is healthy, as long as it is cheap. Yet, under which conditions do the fruit and vegetable pickers have to work every day in order to supply us with "healthy" and "cheap"? On October 1 2013, approximately 70 harvesters from Romania and Serbia went on strike at a large farm in Tyrol. Without any support by union or the general public these workers dared to risk their job in order to resist against massive exploitation and arbitrary treatment. Their organizing is an outstanding event in Austria's recent history. It is the point of departure for a musical-literary endeavour.

Interviews with the protesters form the basis for staging FIELD RESEARCH. Acting, reading, cabaret, and music blend from one into the other, almost collage-like. The situation of fruit and vegetable pickers in the fields around Vienna is also addressed. The evening covers a broad spectrum and puts cases of massive wage dumping under cruel working conditions in a global, historical and theoretical context. Bad working conditions guarantee the global wealth gap. At WIENWOCHE we are not only asking what life could look like beyond capitalistic production. But also: how can we fight for it? At the same time the artists reflect their own role: how can one speak on stage on behalf of others? Why one has looked away over years?

Text and Direction: Franz-Xaver Franz, Lia Sudermann

Cast: Olivia Platzer, Franz-Xaver Franz

Music: Lissie Rettenwander

Research: Sónia Melo