Marc Illich was born and raised in Feldkirch, Austria. His artistic career began during his studies in Vienna, where he performed in the student theatre STUTHE. He was a member of the improvisation ensemble Quintessenz and the independent group Studio Null Sieben before completing his training at the Elfriede Ott Theatre Academy in 2021. He has worked in Vienna, notably with Peter Gruber at Nestroy Spiele Schwechat and with Bruno Max at SCALA Theatre. He is a permanent member of the GSTT ensemble since the 2022/23 season and is also a freelance member of the Viennese Ensemble Ehrlos.
Oana Vidoni: I recently told a friend of mine that we have a new colleague in our ensemble who came to Timisoara from Vienna. And she said: How can you move from Vienna to Timisoara? And I thought I would take this question from her. What brought you here?
Marc Illich: Actually, I've been asked this question many times, how can I move from Vienna all the way to Timisoara, so to speak. And, without knowing what your friend is referring to, whether it's the city or the cultural scene, in fact, chance brought me here. I applied to different theatres. I knew there was a German Theatre here. I have to say that I've always had a fascination for Eastern Europe and I've always loved listening to Slavic languages as well as Romanian. Somehow, when I applied, I thought it would be great because I would love to live abroad. But as an actor, you're usually a bit trapped in the German space. So I wouldn't have wanted to go to England and work as an actor, that's why it was so good that I could do both.
Oana Vidoni: Our collaboration started in September with The Cherry Orchard, directed by Volker Schmidt, in which you play Trofimov. Tell me briefly how this first experience at GSTT was for you.
Marc Illich: I remember structuring the rehearsals following the chronology of the play, so to speak. Because Trofimov doesn't appear until the end of the first act, I didn't join the cast until three or four days into rehearsals. And that was somehow very interesting, because there was already so much there and I saw how you played off each other. And I was totally amazed. I immediately felt that you knew each other well and that you were used to playing together. And because I had been on the independent scene before and somehow always played with other people, I found it extremely enjoyable to see that. For me it was also very nice that my first play was here with a Viennese director. So somehow there was still a connection, a feeling of home.
Oana Vidoni: Shortly after The Cherry Orchard, you took over the role of the storyteller in the revival of The Jungle Book, directed and choreographed by Răzvan Mazilu. Had you acted in musicals before that?
Marc Illich: Because you mentioned Quintessenz earlier, the improv ensemble, I once did an improvised musical with them at a festival, which was very intense. I don't know if it was particularly good, but we invited coaches from London to Vienna to work with us and they were very good. In London, they only do improvised musicals. They're called Showstoppers. And that was my only real musical experience, so to speak. I was familiar with singing on stage, of course, but this was something totally unique.
Oana Vidoni: And what was it like working with Razvan? What was your experience with this production so appreciated by the public?
Marc Illich: Razvan works totally differently from Volker, and his style is also very different. That's why it was so cool to experience something completely different from one to the other. I am taking on a role that has been played by someone else, so on the one hand I had a big advantage, because there were already recordings and a lot of things had already been done for me. But of course there were also challenges, how could I fulfil this role without copying and what could I add?
Oana Vidoni: I find the audience reaction to this production very special. I know we had this conversation after your premiere, because I feel that this energy from the audience I only experienced after a musical. So I find it very, very special.
Marc Illich: I also think that music is just a level of itself that speaks to people in such an immediate and direct way. And I heard somewhere, I don't know if it's true, that when you listen to music your own vocal chords resonate, I don't know now if that's really just because of the vibrations, or because you want to somehow sing along, or whatever. Yeah, but I thought it was pretty cool.
Oana Vidoni: You are now playing the title role in Wolfgang Herrndorf's Tschick, directed by Irisz Kovacs, set design by Clara Ștefana and music by Adrian Piciorea, a very young artistic team joined by our colleagues Robert Bogdanov Schein, Alma Diaconu, Ioana Iacob and Alex Mihăescu. The production will premiere on 12th of January. The text is one of the most staged in Germany in 2014-2015. What can you reveal? What should the audience expect?
Marc Illich: The play is like a road movie, a journey, an adventure, so to speak. I think it was tagged as an odyssey, or an odyssey of youth. It really is. There are an incredible number of locations, and the characters are thrown from one adventure to another, and I think that's something totally unique. To be honest, I find it incredibly difficult to put on stage and I admire Irisz Kovacs' courage to want to do that. And although it is a play for young people, I think everyone will be touched by this story.
Oana Vidoni: What is your favorite moment in the show?
Marc Illich: Alex Mihăescu and Ioana Iacob play several supporting roles. They have a lot of different costumes, they appear again and again. Unlike our roles, i.e. Maik and Tschick, who are the main characters, they are creatures, caricatures from our memories that are somehow narrated or just appear. The two can manifest themselves in all sorts of ways and it's extremely hard not to laugh. I love watching them, how crazy they are. I'm so happy that we can play of each other in such a savoury way, that I can enjoy it so much. The woman with the fire extinguisher, if I had to give it away, is, I think, my favourite moment.
Oana Vidoni: You've been in Timisoara for a few months and have already experienced two theatre festivals - TESZT Festival and Eurothalia Festival. You've also seen some of our productions in other theatres, so you already know the pulse of the city, so to speak. What do you think at the beginning of the European Capital of Culture and why would you recommend Timisoara to your friends or acquaintances?
Marc Illich: Although I have already settled in and feel at home here, I still know very little about the history and cultural scene. I think it really feels like a melting pot, always has, obviously. I think it feels like this long history of different cultures and languages with each other, with all that implies. And I think it's somehow still beautifully lived. I find this extremely interesting and I recommend it to my friends, because, of course, I hope they will come and visit. It has a very special flair. You know, there's something imperial about it. Also, it probably has something very Romanian, Eastern European, and it has something totally modern and contemporary. I think that diversity - an important word in times like these - is felt here, without being forced in any way. It just is. I could see myself staying here longer, that's because a lot of people have asked me that. Maybe there's a certain image of Vienna that people have, and there's probably a reason for that too, but it seems to me that it's much more relaxed here. That's also a quality. Even if there isn't the same cultural offer here as in Vienna, for example, it's good enough. It's really a beautiful place and everyone who has visited me from Vienna has confirmed this. So you don't have to be ashamed of Timisoara at all.