True Story Nights (at Volkstheater)

PLEASE NOTE: TO ATTEND THIS EVENT YOU NEED TO BUY A TICKET FROM VOLKSTHEATER - NO NEED TO RSVP HERE.

The hugely popular TRUE STORY NIGHTS from Vienna Storytelling Collective kick off 2026 on January 14th. These monthly sold out shows at the grand Volkstheater Rote Bar are exciting storytelling evenings that bring you a different line up of performers each time, with surprising, moving, hilarious and sometimes shockingly true stories. Your host as ever is Turan Ali, producer of BBC drama/comedy, who welcomes you to a rollercoaster evening of gripping, high quality true stories – some from Vienna. Our ever-changing quartet of storytellers for each show includes novelists, comedians, radio, TV and film professionals, screenplay writers, performance poets, singer-songwriters and theatre-makers. It feels like being the priest at a confessional, hearing such personal revelations …. but you don’t need to keep all these a secret!

WHAT THE AUDIENCES HAVE SAID: “Exhilarating”, “A brilliant evening every time”, “Funny and very moving”, “Incredible stories!”

True stories guaranteed to astonish, amuse or amaze you with their honesty.

The line-up for our January 14th 2026 TRUE STORY NIGHTS is Turan Ali, Alina Nikolaou, Kudra Owens and Ned Stranger.

Turan Ali has Austrian/Turkish parents and has produced, directed and written BBC Radio dramas, comedies and documentaries for 25+ years. He’s the creator, host & producer of True Story Nights. He works as an on-stage storyteller and a stand-up around Europe, including his solo shows. His regular Queer Folks’ Tales shows are in their 5th year in Scotland. He won Creative Edinburgh’s Leadership Award 2024.
Kudra Owens is an actor, dancer and singer originally from Seattle, Washington, based in Vienna for 25 years. Since childhood she has performed on stage in ballet, jazz, musical theatre, plays and ads. She has appeared in the Broadway National Tour of “Footloose” and the first German translation of “Mary Poppins” and many more. Her TV & Film credits include Netflix ‘s “Berlin Station” & “The Third Parent”.
Alina Nikolaou is a Greek-Austrian curator and former researcher, social critic and regular storyteller at Vienna Storytelling Collective. As the Managing Director of TEDAI Vienna, she grooms brilliant stories to bring them to life in the form of TED Talks, spanning technology, society and life.

Ned Stranger is an English singer-songwriter, author and ‘unapologetic over-sharer’. He studied law at Cambridge, but then started an indie-folk band, August and After, with global listening success. In 2022 he moved to Vienna, and has performed solo widely including at Sofar Sounds. He is now writing a nonfiction book exploring polyamory and open marriage and a newly launched podcast, Poly Risk Reward.

TICKETS only from Volkstheater (box office or online).
https://www.volkstheater.at/produktion/1494643/true-story-nights/3045973/