There are no microphones, the light is pale and the stage scuffed: the entrance exam for acting at the renowned Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna does not exactly radiate glamor but is full of tension, passion and individual catastrophes. 

Florian Gebauer looks behind the curtain of one of world's oldest castings. Each year up to 800 people apply for the 12 coveted places at the Seminar. "Game of Life" follows five of the applicants: Carola and Kristina from Germany, Elena who is applying for the seventeenth time, Adrian, a ballet dancer and Mercy, a former au pair from Kenya. The result is a Tour de Force of emotions: to be or not to be, nerves, sweat and tears.