Theaterpreis des Bundes 2021
Jury statement
“Bostelwiebeck – since the Jahrmarkttheater has been working here, this village has become a place where nationally relevant theater is rehearsed, performed, watched and discussed. Where else, if not in such a small village, would it be necessary to engage in dialog with the village society? Dialogue means speaking and listening. And that is what distinguishes the Jahrmarkttheater: It doesn’t just speak, it listens. It not only offers to a landscape with otherwise limited cultural offerings sophisticated, great and yet accessible theater art, but it also collects the themes on the village street, processes them and attracts a supra-regional audience. Thomas Matschoß, Anja Imig and Andrea Hingst succeed in seducing their neighbors to engage with contemporary formats and forms, to leave familiar paths, to abandon themselves to the joy of play and the invention of new worlds. With self-irony, fun, courage and great consistency, the Jahrmarkttheater fills the term “popular theater” with new life. Bostelwiebeck thus becomes a global village and the Jahrmarkttheater a well-deserved winner of the Theaterpreises des Bundes.” – Jury statement