Fräulein Else

A letter from Vienna, an impossible request, a decision that isn’t one, and a young woman, who is beginning to realise what the world expects from her. Leonie Böhm and Julia Riedler bring Arthur Schnitzler’s Else into the present. Published in 1924, the novella has lost none of its sharp wit and is, even a century later, a brilliant study in the abuse of power. Julia Riedler, who will be joining the ensemble of the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in the new season, brings this exceptional play and her commanding performance to Berlin.

An urgent letter from Vienna ruins Else’s vacation. Her mother is desperate as her father is deeply in debt – yet again. Now, 30,000 guilders are needed, and quickly. Else is asked to approach the wealthy art dealer Dorsday to beg for money and prevent her father from going to jail. Dorsday – older, wealthier, and fully aware of his position of power – is willing to help. Under one condition: Else must allow him to gaze at her naked body for an entire quarter of an hour.

Schnitzler wrote the story in the form of a seamless stream of consciousness from the point of view of a young woman who’s beginning to realise in real time just what is happening to her. Leonie Böhm and Julia Riedler have joined forces to adapt this interior monologue for the stage and developed it for the present. The result is a dazzling solo performance of extraordinary intimacy that resonates just as powerfully today with the critical questions Else has for society as it did a century ago. For what Else experienced back then is still happening today.

Julia Riedler and Leonie Böhm’s Fräulein Else, developed at the Volkstheater Wien, is one of the most critically-acclaimed productions currently showing in German-language theatres. Julia Riedler was voted Actress of the Year 2025 for her role as Else, and Leonie Böhm received the award for Best Director. The production won the Nestroy Prize, was invited to the 2026 Berlin Theatre Festival, and continues to be performed not only in Berlin but also in Vienna, Cologne, and Munich.