actress
Shakespeare Prize for Birgit Minichmayr
The Austrian actress Birgit Minichmayr shows her certificate after being awarded the Shakespeare Prize by the German Shakespeare Society. photo
© Michael Reichel/dpa
The 46-year-old Austrian made a special contribution to the work of William Shakespeare and its dissemination. At least that’s what the jury that awards the prize thinks.
Complex and ambiguous – like Shakespeare. That’s the game by Birgit Minichmayr, it was said on Sunday in Weimar when the Austrian actress and singer was honored. The 46-year-old received the 10,000 euro prize from the German Shakespeare Foundation, which was awarded for the first time this year.
When Minichmayr is on stage, she is always very close to the people, said the director of the Bochum theater Johan Simons in his laudatory speech. “Your game is much more complex than meets the eye.” He emphasized the special courage and joie de vivre with which the actress acts.
Minichmayr not only acted in various Shakespearean plays but also produced an album of settings of Shakespearean sonnets. Her singing sounds effortless, said Simons, adding that there are definitely people who sing more beautifully. However, the musicality and depth that Minichmayr expresses here is deeply moving.
The actress, who is a member of the ensemble of the Vienna Burgtheater, was grateful and at the same time “somehow ashamed” to be the first prizewinner in the world. She is particularly impressed by the simultaneous, universal and timeless aspect of Shakespeare, which makes his works still relevant even after almost 450 years. She felt a special connection to the playwright early on. “I really imagined – and I never felt the same way about any other author as I did about Shakespeare – that when I played him, he was watching me.”
The award ceremony took place as part of the Shakespeare Days from April 21st to 23rd. Public figures who have made a special contribution to the work of Shakespeare and its dissemination are to be honored every two years.