Wiener Festwochen: Is this a room: Reality winner verbatim transcription

In 2017, speech analyst Reality Winner was handed a disproportionately long prison sentence for leaking intelligence information about Russian interference in the US presidential elections. The original FBI interrogation, which took place at her house, is re-enacted word for word on stage in the acclaimed docudrama Is This A Room. Director Tina Satter and her New York company Half Straddle have succeeded in creating a thriller. In this pure and concentrated production, the complex power play is reflected in an exemplary way through the interview situation. Institutions, honour, patriotism, gender – everything becomes a question of power, at the very moment in time when the young woman’s life is beginning to unravel. This brilliant psychological drama packs a punch, making it crystal-clear that while fiction is harsh, reality is even harsher.