At the national competition for German-speaking drama students in Frankfurt, the final year of the Thomas Bernhard Institute at the Mozarteum University won several prizes for its production of Elfriede Jelinek's ‘The Silent Girl’. In addition to the main prize of the competition, the Swiss Ensemble Prize, and the Audience Prize/Students' Prize, we are delighted to have won two solo prizes for Payam Yazdani and Joyce Mayne Sanhá.
This year's national competition, combined with the 35th meeting for the promotion of young actors, took place from 7 to 13 July 2024 in Frankfurt am Main and was hosted by the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts - 180 aspiring actors and 18 studies were represented. The Federal Minister of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of Germany's sponsorship awards totalling 25,000 euros were presented on the recommendation of an independent jury consisting of Anna Böttcher (actress), Robert Gerloff (director), Angela Obst (dramaturge), Stefanie Reinsperger (actress) and Joana Tischkau (choreographer, artist and director).
The ensemble - Colin Johner, Victoria Kraft, Joseph Lang, Valerie Martin, Lena Plochberger, Joyce Sanhá, Fayola Schönrock, Payam Yazdani and Adrian Weinek (final-year drama students at the Thomas Bernhard Institute) - received several awards for its production ‘Das schweigende Mädchen’ by Elfriede Jelinek about the NSU trial:
The Ensemble Prize goes to students of the Thomas Bernhard Institute for the second time in a row (after 2023 with ‘Tartuffe’ by Peter Licht). The two solo prize winners already have permanent engagements - Joyce Mayne Sanha at the Berliner Ensemble and Payam Yazdani at the Junges Schauspielhaus Hamburg.
The prizes are the crowning glory of the academic year, after the directing prize at the Körber Studio Junge Regie in Hamburg went to directing graduate Giulia Giammona for ‘Penelope’ by Leonora Carrington in June.
The national competition for German-speaking drama students, organised by the European Theatre Academy ‘Konrad Ekhof’ Hamburg, offers young actors in Germany, Austria and Switzerland an opportunity to present themselves, learn from each other and discuss study goals, methods and the future of theatre together. The competition promotes the students' ability to deal with professional criticism and their own judgement and provides an insight into the different training paths of the universities.
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