The 2025 Alfred-Kerr-Acting-Award Goes to Carmen Steinert

At the conclusion of Theatertreffen on Sunday, 18 May, actor Carmen Steinert received the award, which comes with a prize sum of 5,000 Euros, at Haus der Berliner Festspiele.

After viewing the ten most remarkable productions invited to Theatertreffen, actor BettinaStucky, who was the sole juror for the 2025 Alfred-Kerr-Acting-Award, made her decision.
Carmen Steinert receives the Alfred-Kerr-Acting-Award (5,000 Euros) for her performance in “Blutbuch”, directed by Jan Friedrich and produced at Theater Magdeburg, which was presented as part of Theatertreffen on 3 and 4 May at Deutsches Theater Berlin.

Guests of the award ceremony at Haus der Berliner Festspiele included Gavin McLaughlin, great-grandson of Alfred Kerr, and actor and former award-winner Paul Herwig.

“And then, someone shines onstage. With so much humour. How you, as a grown woman, continue to bring the story back to the ground, how your tone is always direct. You don’t push it, it’s a fine brush, never insisting. All of this speaks of great acting intelligence and I am grateful and delighted that there are people like you on the stage.”

– Bettina Stucky, sole juror 2025 

Carmen Steinert was born in Graz, Austria, in 1994 and enjoyed acting even in playschool. She lived in Halle/Saale, Upper Austria and Vienna before her acting studies brought her back to Graz in 2013, to attend the University of Music and Performing Arts. During her studies, her class won the Max-Reinhard-Prize at the national competition of German-language acting students in Berne in 2017. In 2017, Cornelia Crombholz brought her back to Saxony-Anhalt, to Theater Magdeburg, where she received the Advancement Award of the Association of Friends of Theater Magdeburg, and where she was a member of the acting company until 2024. In the same year, the production “Blutbuch” received the audience award at the festival radikal jung in Munich.

The Alfred-Kerr-Acting-Award was initiated in memory of the Berlin theatre critic Alfred Kerr by his children Judith and Michael Kerr, together with Pressestiftung Tagesspiegel and Berliner Festspiele/Theatertreffen. Since then, the award has distinguished the outstanding achievement of one young actor in one of the productions invited to Theatertreffen every year. The award comes with a prize sum of 5,000 Euros and is offered by the Alfred-Kerr-Foundation with support from Berliner Festspiele. Other supporters are the publishing house Der Tagesspiegel, the Hartung family and Gustav Kiepenheuer Bühnenvertriebs-GmbH. Every year, a different renowned theatre personality serves as the sole juror.

Alfred-Kerr-Acting-Award: To the Archive
More information at: alfred-kerr.de

Portrait Photo of Award Winner Carmen Steinert
Portrait photos of the award winner Carmen Steinert, the juror Bettina Stucky and current photos of the award ceremony are available for download in the website's press area. 

Theatertreffen is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation. Funded by the State Minister for Culture and the Media.
The festival would like to thank all of its co-operation partners and supporters as well as all participants for their co-operation.