01.09.2016
MARTA GÓRNICKA NOMINATED FOR GERMAN THEATER PRIZE “DER FAUST”

 

Marta Górnicka nominated for DER FAUST Award

The committee of the prestigious theater award DER FAUST praised Górnicka for directing the influential performance (M)OTHER COURAGE at the Staatstheater Braunschweig in Braunschweig, Germany. In their statement, the jury describes the spectacle as “an impressive, linguistically perfect work, involving six actresses and seventeen amateurs, and discussing the topic of war. It is an example of a new theatrical form that engages amateurs. The linguistic aspect of the performance deserves special attention, as it is often considered to be a potential weak point of working with non-professionals”. Besides Górnicka, the FAUST shortlist included Frank Castorf for his Brothers Karamazov (Volksbühne Berlin) as well as Tom Kühnel and Jürgen Kuttner for a performance entitled Der Auftrag (Schauspiel Hannover). The winners will be announced on November 5th during the award ceremony in Freiburg.

The cast of (M)OTHER COURAGE will give a guest performance in Berlin on October 12th at the Maxim Gorki Theatre.

DER FAUST Award was established in 2006 as a national non-subsidized theater award, aimed at showcasing the artistic potential of the German theater. Theaters are allowed to propose others’ productions for the award, but not their own. The jury then nominates the candidates for each category. Finally, members of the German Academy of Performing Arts select the winners from among the shortlisted productions.

Here is the committee’s statement in its entirety:

“The aesthetics of the young Polish director’s work was shaped, among others, by the collaboration with Robert Wilson. The director created an original concept of modern choral theater, mainly women’s. It is a theatrical formula in which she employs an original method of vocal and actor training. Marta Górnicka has received numerous awards – recently, she received a Fast Forward festival prize at the Staatstheater Braunschweig. It was there that she developed the performance (M)OTHER COURAGE – an impressive, linguistically perfect work, involving six actresses and seventeen amateurs, and discussing the topic of war. It is an example of a new theatrical form that engages amateurs. The linguistic aspect of the performance deserves special attention, as it is often considered to be a potential weak point of working with non-professionals The performance demonstrates how foreign artists are able to enrich German theater. It also directs our attention to the director herself, whose art meets much controversy in her own country due to the current political situation there, and whose social involvement in this light is all the more commendable.”

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