14. Apr 2022
IKARUS 21.0
Award for outstanding Berlin Theatre productions and projects for children and young people young people in pandemic times
Despite the pandemic situation and cultural shutdown, the IKARUS took off again in 2021! The name of the established and recognized award of the JugendKulturService gGmbH directed its view this year with a certain the difficult situation of Berlin's children's and youth Theatres. youth Theatres. The award ceremony focused on the creative, diverse and innovative way in which the scene deals with the pandemic situation. This showed much more than a glimmer of hope, it presented visitors and Theatremakers and Theatre makers new and exemplary ways of Theatre for a young audience. audience.
Established Theatres for a young audience as well as independent groups developed in a variety of creative ways, very different ways to to stay in contact with Theatregoers despite the closure of the venues and to and to enable them to experience Theatre even in times of contact restrictions. times of contact restrictions. In the context of IKARUS 21.0, the jury explored these unusual approaches in Pandemie. approaches in times of pandemic to highlight particularly innovative examples. highlight.
In particular, projects were sought that went beyond streaming existing
existing productions and created exciting dimensions;
for example, creative digital ideas for audience retention in times of
lockdown, unusual outdoor productions and other hybrid formats.
The outstanding projects selected by the IKARUS jury were recognized as. "best-practice examples" were presented in a certain edition - the IKARUS 21.0 - as a live stream from the Atze MusikTheatre. The ten nominated productions stood in their diversity on equal footing as honorees on the stage of the Atze MusikTheatre. At the IKARUS 21.0 ten trophies were awarded for ten nominated productions, which also shared the prize money equally. divided equally.
Categories and awarded productions
Theatre into the net
In the category Theatre on the Net particularly creative digital approaches were honored.
In Mambuso and the Christmas ball - digital with you! the Astrid Lindgren Stage created a shared space in which everyone can interact with each other. shared space in which everyone can interact with each other.
The GRIPS Theatre brought its production production Kai goes to war and comes back Kai goes to war and comes back with grandpa as a stream. But instead of filming, the production was transformed by video artist Katharina Tress into a cinematic work of art all its own.
With Bei Atze unterm Sofa the ATZE music Theatre showed not only showed current Theatre works in a livestream, but also introduced its artists artists, gave a glimpse backstage, and the children watching could create their own little children could contribute to the stream with their own small works of art. with their own small works of art.
The fact that it is possible to create completely independent Theatre productions using independent Theatre productions using video conferencing software, with the actors even act in different cities and the audience is connected from all over Germany. was demonstrated in an outstanding way by the independent group United Puppets with Weil heute mein Geburtstag ist (Because today is my birthday).
Theatre in other ways
With Theatre on Other Paths Theatres left their familiar places and conquered the streets as well as unfamiliar performance spaces.
The Atze MusikTheatre occupied KIEZ concerts occupied places in the urban space, where one otherwise rarely stumbles upon art and culture.
Instead of staging ash cloudsin the in the Theatre as planned, the Theatre Strahl transformed the grounds of Theatre Strahl and the youth hostel Berlin Ostkreuz to the backdrop of a road trip, which the audience could get up close to via headphones to get up close and individual.
Jo Parkes created a completely different form of closeness in collaboration with FELD Theatre with her Walking Project. Project. In spite of physical distance and public space, the one-to-one walks create closeness and intimacy.
Theatre beyond the Theatre
In the search for new forms and ways to stay in contact with the audience, theatres Theatres found formats that went beyond the usual ways of staging and and storytelling: Theatre Beyond Theatre. The Berlin group machina eX turned the app Telegram into a stage on which the participants themselves became actors through text and voice messages, without which the production Lockdown would not progress.
Also at Theatre Strahl the young people involved in Da geht was! played an important role in the question: How can the format of an interactive format of an interactive classroom play work in times of a shutdown? work?
The children's club Rakete Jetzt! of GRIPS Werke e.V. created Theatre between two book covers: With their publication Level Fear they combine the classic medium of books with the digital reality of augmented reality - a Theatre-book project that literally draws you into the story! into the story!