With the new drama by Büchner Prize winner Rainald Goetz “Baracke”, the Mülheim Theater Days will start the competition for the renowned prize for contemporary drama on May 4th. This was announced by the organizers of the festival in Mülheim. Seven new pieces of German-language contemporary drama for adults and five for children are nominated. Both competitions are endowed with 15,000 euros each. All nominated plays will be performed during the Theatertage (May 4th to 25th) in Mülheim.
The other nominated plays are “Juices” (Ewe Benbenek, National Theater 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).
It was a year with a lot of inviting plays, said the spokesman for the selection committee for adult plays, the theater scholar Franz Wille. In his view, common themes are heightened conflict situations and breaks between generations and social groups.
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.
