theatre
Mülheim theater competition opens with “Baracke”.
The play “Baracke” premiered at the Deutsches Theater Berlin in autumn 2023. The piece opens the renowned Mülheim theater competition. photo
© Thomas Aurin/Deutsches Theater Berlin/dpa
The Mülheim Dramatist Prize is one of the most prestigious theater prizes in Germany. This year’s competition started on Saturday.
The renowned Mülheim Theater Competition opened on Saturday evening with the new drama by Büchner Prize winner Rainald Goetz “Baracke” began. Previously, the previous year’s winners were traditionally honored in the Mülheim town hall.
Seven new pieces of contemporary German-language drama for adults and five for children will be shown until May 25th. Both competitions are endowed with 15,000 euros each. All nominated plays will be performed during the Theatertage (May 4th to 25th) in Mülheim.
Caren Jeß won last year
In 2023, the author Caren Jeß won the adult category with her piece “The Cat Eleonore”. The writer and dramaturg Roland Schimmelpfennig won the Children’s Pieces Prize last year with his play “The Fairy Tale of the Little Mermaid”.
The Mülheim Drama Prize is considered one of the most important awards in the German theater landscape. The focus is on the play texts, not their production. The winners will be decided at public jury meetings.
The nominations
The other nominated adult plays are “Juices” (Ewe Benbenek, Nationaltheater Mannheim), “Nora or How to Compost the Mansion” (Sivan Ben Yishai, Schauspiel Hannover), “forecast:ödipus” (Thomas Köck, Schauspiel Stuttgart), ” The Silence” (Falk Richter, Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin), “Laios” (Roland Schimmelpfennig, Anthropolis II, Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg) and “Application for the greatest possible distance from violence” (Felicia Zeller, Theater Oberhausen).
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