18. 10. 2010.

Frank Castorf to Receive the Golden Laurel Wreathe Award for His Contribution to the Art of Theatre

On the occasion of this year's birthday edition of the MESS Theatre Festival, the Festival Head Office has decided to present its greatest award two times. This year's first Golden Laurel Wreath Award for his contribution to the art of theatre will be presented to German director Frank Castorf.

“In the past 13 years, our Festival has hosted magnificent theatre directors from all around the world, but Frank Castorf can be considered one of our greatest and most successful. Along with his general contribution to the art of theatre, Frank Castorf is also one of the MESS's most awarded directors, which is reason enough to present him with this extremely significant recognition. His directions are characterised by an increased social awareness, an examination of stage expressions and language, and the introduction of new technologies in theatre”, state the MESS in its explanation of its decision.

Frank Castorf has also received two Golden Laurel Wreath Awards for Best Direction at the MESS International Theatre Festival, for the plays Trainspotting (1997) and Endstation America (2002).

The Award will be presented to Frank Castorf during his stay at the 50^th MESS Festival. His play, KEAN, a production of the Volksbuhne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Theatre of Berlin, will be performed at the National Theatre in Sarajevo at 19.30. Also, during his stay in Sarajevo, Castorf will hold a Master Class to students of literature, as well as students from performing arts academies, on 24 October 2010.

Biography

Frank Castorf was born in Berlin in 1951. He studied at the University of Humboldt in Berlin. He has worked at the Anklam and Deutsches Schauspelhaus Theatres in Hamburg, the Residenztheater in Munich, the Volksbuhne in Berlin, the Stadsteatern in Stockholm, the Burgtheater in Vienna... Since 1990, he has worked at the Deutsches Theater, where he has staged plays such as Paris, Paris, Sojas Wohnung, John Gabriel Borkmann (in co-production with the Kammerspiele Theatre), as well as Hermes in der Stadt. His first project with the Volksbuhne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Theatre was the production of the performance Trunkenes Schiff. In 1992, he became the theatrical manager of the Volksbuhne. He has received numerous critics' awards presented by Berliner Zeitung. Since 1989, Castorf was proclaimed Director of the Year at five editions of the “Theater Heute” Annual Critics’ Review.