In September 2021 the Burgtheater will celebrate its reopening after the longest closure in its history with perhaps the world’s most famous play about queens, Schiller’s MARY STUART.

The eponymous Scottish queen has formulated claims to the throne of England held by Elizabeth. After having spent two decades in captivity in England and having lost a trial that condemned her to death for treason, Mary finds herself in a hopeless situation. Could one of the many Catholic-led plots lead to her escape? Would Elizabeth really dare to execute a crowned monarch? At the same time, the pressure on Elizabeth, Mary’s hesitant Anglican opponent, from her advisers to finally sign the death warrant is constantly increasing. Mary Stuart is a political thriller, an exaggeration of historical events, a passionate exploration of questions Schiller contemplated all his life: What is freedom? How do politics work? And how can theatre immunize against the deadly virus of power?