Jury statement

“Even before its 25th anniversary year, many eyes were on this OFF theatre in Leipzig, Saxony and Central Germany: LOFFT stands for aesthetic innovation and artistic inventiveness, for cosmopolitanism and inclusion, but also for a team that not only works in an agile manner, but also attaches such great importance to its own professional networking and cultural-political positioning that LOFFT is one of the formative and exemplary nodes on the mental map of the independent performing arts. From the diverse contemporary artistic programme, the jury would like to highlight the in-house FORWARD DANCE COMPANY, which has been established in recent years. Here, a mixed-abled ensemble of six dancers works together with changing choreographers and has already achieved a clearly visible and sustainable development of new audiences after just a few years. LOFFT is characterised by the promotion of local young talent and supra-regional co-productions, by research and urban projects as well as guest performances by renowned artists, by audience expansion with staying power and a special focus on marginalised groups. In short, LOFFT’s conceptual approach, which has clearly been consistently pursued over the years, demonstrates a great awareness of the questions and challenges of our time. It deserves all our attention and the award of the 2023 Theaterpreis des Bundes in the Independent Production Houses category.” – Jury statement