News

The winner of this year's Playwrighting Competition is Christian Winkler with »In the Arcades«, which will be presented in a staged reading on March, 7th during our festival »F.I.N.D.10 - The Three Americas«.

About the Play:
Erik, exhausted and burned out, has a nervous breakdown on the street. Fortunately, three doctors, Dr. Brodler, Dr. Kopper and Dr. Harter are on the spot. Their opinion is unanimous: Erik must go to a health resort, and more precisely to a leisure complex on the outskirts of the city. Erik sets out for Wonderwest Recreational Park, where he is at once named Eric. The entertainment is overwhelming, but when Eric hears about the Skymaster attraction, he becomes obsessed. He sets off to search for the Skymaster and comes to notice that life has a striking resemblance to the hustle and bustle of a fairground …

About the Playwright:
Christian Winkler (born in Graz in 1981) is a writer and director who studied playwriting in Graz, Austria. He is the winner of the Schaubühne’s 6th Playwrighting Competition.

Concept

Since 1999 the Schaubühne has been engaged in the active support of young and emerging playwrights in Germany. Attesting to this are the annual Festival of International New Drama (F.I.N.D.), as well as our cooperation with the Cultural Committee of German Business (as part of the BDI e.V., the Federation of German Industries), in support of theater authors.

2003

From among the submissions, the jury, consisting of the Schaubühne’s dramaturgy department and its author-in-residence Marius von Mayenburg, selected »kopftot«, the work of 20-year-old Gerhild Steinbuch. She describes her text in the subtitle as »A Piece on an Escape Attempt.« Ophelia lives alone with her father in physical and psychological repression. In her attempt to escape the claustrophobic situation, she invents a new family, creates a fictitious brother, and fantasizes her dead mother returned to life. Finally her father discovers her withdrawal into this fantasy world and destroys Ophelia’s refuge.

Gerhild Steinbuch was born in 1983 in Mödling, Austria, and studied law in Graz. »kopftot« was presented in 2004 in a staged reading as part of the 4th annual Festival of International New Drama (Jan. 19-26, 2004). In the meantime, Gerhild Steinbuch is working on her third theater piece and is represented by Rowohlt Verlag. Most recently her work »Nach dem glücklichen Tag« was seen at Theater Graz.

2004

Christoph Nußbaumeder won the second Drama Competition in 2004. In the tradition of critical folk theater, he describes the human and socio-economic conflicts which erupt between Polish seasonal laborers and locals during harvest on a Lower Bavarian cucumber farm. The 20-year-old Marlie watches as her dreams of a better life melt under the summer heat in the face of economic exploitation and abusive relationships between men and women.

Christoph Nußbaumeder was born in 1978 in Eggenfelden, Lower Bavaria. After his baccalaureate, civil service, and work in a car factory, he moved to Berlin, where he now studies law, German studies, and history. In 2004 he was awarded the Thomas Bernhard Prize of the Landestheater Linz, Austria. He is currently working on his next play.

»Mit dem Gurkenfleiger in die Südsee« was presented in March 2005 at the 5th annual Festival of International New Drama in a staged reading under the direction of Thomas Ostermeier (F.I.N.D. 5: March 16th-20th, 2005). Christoph Nußbaumeder’s 2001 documentary film on the actor/playwright Martin Sperr, »Nach der Jagd. Szenen«, was also seen at the festival. Nußbaumeder’s work is published by Suhrkamp Verlag. His newest play, »Love is But One Possibility« was directed by Thomas Ostermeier during the 2005-06 season at the Schaubühne.

2005

The winner of the third Drama Competition was Johanna Kaptein. The jury selected her work »The History of St. Magda.«

»The History of St. Magda« is the portrait of a woman turned murderer. Humiliated by her lover’s wife, Magda flees her home only to get into worse trouble in the next small town. The men she meets determine her life and fate – at least until the day her patience runs out and she snaps. One year later the small town where the murder took place has become a tourist attraction, and the inhabitants gather on the anniversary to recall Magda’s story. By cleverly mixing the layers of time in the play, and by alternating between the epic and dramatic forms, Kaptein manages convincingly and with detail to tell an individual’s story and to illustrate at the same time the claustrophic small-town world in which it takes place.

Johanna Kaptein was born in Hamburg in 1974. During 1999-2000 she wrote for the show »Exkursion Agonie« on the station FSK Hamburg. In 2000-2001 she was a member of the Forum of Hamburg Authors. Since April 2002 she has been studying dramatic writing at the University of the Arts, Berlin.

On March 19, 2006 »Die Geschichte von St. Magda« was presented in a staged reading by Thomas Ostermeier at the 6th Festival of International New Drama (F.I.N.D. 6: March 16th-19th, 2006).

2006

The winner of the 4th Playwrighting Competition is Lorenz Langenegger with his play »Rakows Dom« (»Rakow’s Cathedral«). The play was presented during F.I.N.D.7 – Focus Israel in a staged reading.

2007

The madness of the world

Nina Ender won the 5th playwrighting competition with »Those who Know« (»Die Wissenden«).

The jury of the Schaubühne’s fifth playwrighting competition has made its decision: They chose the young German writer Nina Ender for her play »Those who Know«. The jury, made up of Schaubühne dramaturgs as well as in-house playwright Marius von Mayenburg, praised the fearless and complex engagement with a difficult theme and the surprising humour in the play. According to the jury, »Those that Know« impressed with its abundance of complex characters and interwoven story.

A staged reading of »Those who Know« took place at the Festival of New International Drama F.I.N.D.8 – focus Palestine, in October 2008.