Theatre-Award-Berlin by Stiftung Preußische Seehandlung

The Stiftung Preußische Seehandlung has presented the Theatre-Award-Berlin, worth 20,000 Euro, at the Theatertreffen since 1988. It serves to recognise individuals whose life’s work or remarkable single achievements represent an outstanding contribution to German speaking theatre. An excerpt from the jury statement reads:

“With their plays, productions and performances over the last 25 years, Lina Majdalanie and Rabih Mroué have had a significant impact on contemporary theatre, making it broader, more beautiful and more precise. Their authorship is anti-authoritarian: they use minimal expressive means but to maximum poetic effect. The profound seriousness of their work is only possible through their subtle humour. And the radical subjectivity of their analytical performance and personal interpretation of historical and current events, conflicts and crises, especially in Lebanon, unfurls a great, irritating and at times disturbing political force that clearly illuminates the aesthetic and performative reason for their artistic work – at least in the case of their preferred form of lecture performances or ‘non-academic talks’ –  and sometimes makes it implode.”

The jury consists of: Nora Hertlein-Hull, Director of the Theatertreffen, Matthias Pees, Director of the Berliner Festspiele, Martin Thomas Pesl, member of the Theatertreffen-jury, and Annemie Vanackere, Artistic and Managing Director of the theatre HAU Hebbel am Ufer.

The theatre prize is awarded by the Governing Mayor of Berlin and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Stiftung Preußische Seehandlung, Kai Wegner.

All award winners since 1988