Jetse Batelaan is awarded the Prize of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) in 2020. The board of the German ITI centre took this decision following a survey of its members. It is for the second time that the prize is awarded in the field of children's and youth theatre, since 1985 – Volker Ludwig, the founder and long-standing director of Berlin’s GRIPS Theatre, was honoured with its predecessor, the Prize for World Theatre Day, in 1999.

Batelaan, since 2013 Artistic Director of the Artemis Theater in `s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, is currently ranked among the most unconventional protagonists of a new generation of theatre professionals in Europe. His productions are praised for their strong visual language, their exuberant imagination and absurd comedy. His works usually cross the boundaries of the genre and are aimed equally at children, adolescents and adults.

The ITI Prize winner of 2020, who this year was awarded the Silver Lion of the Venice Biennial in the category of theatre, is no stranger in the German theatre landscape: During the last ten years alone, he presented at the festival Theaterformen in Braunschweig (2010) "Der erhobene Zeigefinger" and in Hannover (2011) “Toneel 14+”. In 2015 the tanzhaus nrw staged "Wenn Du nur schnell genug rennst ...". Last year Batelaan produced the play "Vorstellung, in der hoffentlich nichts passiert 8+" at the Theaterhaus Jena and recently the co-production of Artemis Theater with the Ruhrtriennale and Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, "(.....) A show that doesn't give a shit about its own vague title”.
Batelaan is invited – this being part of the award for the first time - with a work to the ITI-Festival Theater der Welt in Düsseldorf 2020.

After completing his training at the Academy of Theatre and Dance in Amsterdam, Jetse Batelaan worked as a freelance artist, from 2003, and directed, among others, the Theatergroep Max in Rotterdam. From 2009 to 2013 he worked as director at the Ro Theater in Rotterdam. As director of Artemis he regularly collaborates with theatre collectives such as De Warme Winkel in Amsterdam and Het Zuidelijk Toneel in Tilburg.

Rising Stars: Since 2016, the German ITI Centre has been awarding its prize to artists in recognition of and in support of their beginning international work. The 2019 winners are the ensemble of "Mittelreich" and its director Anta Helena Recke, in previous years Viktor Bodó (2018), Yael Ronen (2017) and Milo Rau (2016) were awarded the prize.

Anta Helena Recke is a German-Senegalese artist. She worked at the GRIPS theatre, Berlin, in the field of theatre education before starting drama studies at the University of Hildesheim. During her studies, she developed various transdisciplinary performances and curatorial projects in the area of music. In the so-called independent scene, she worked as a performer and assistant, among others with Gintersdorfer/Klaßen and Ana Borralho & João Galante. In the 2015-2017 seasons she was an assistant director at the Münchner Kammerspiele and collaborated with Susanne Kennedy and Philippe Quesne, among others.

Her works ­– conceptual art in the form of theatrical performances – deal with the marking and non-repetition of normativity and the question of how to construct a spatial experience for the audience that it would not otherwise enter. She has been working as a director, dramaturge and in other professions in different projects, in the independent scene as well as in city theatres - among others with Daniel Cremer, Khoikonnexion & KANTE, Jeremy Nedd, Schwabinggradballett, Joana Tischkau, Julian Warner.

Anta Helena Recke was voted Young Artist of the Year 2018 in the Theater heute critics survey. Her performance "Lovepiece", developed in collaboration with Julia*n Meding as part of the treibstoff-Theatertage Basel in 2015, was invited to the Auawirleben - Festival in Bern. In 2019 Recke / Meding will tour with their new work "Angstpiece", created at the Berliner sophiensaele. Anta Helena Recke's production "Mittelreich", which premiered in 2017 at the Münchner Kammerspiele, was represented at the radikal jung festival in 2018 and as one of the ten most remarkable productions of that year also at the Berliner Theatertreffen.

The award ceremony took place December 9, 2019, following the performance of "Die Kränkungen der Menschheit" (directed by Anta Helena Recke) at the Münchner Kammerspiele, Munich.

Mittelreich

Musical theatre based on the novel by Josef Bierbichler, based on the production by Anna-Sophie Mahler

Yosemeh Adjej

has Ghanaian roots. He grew up as a Windsbach choirboy and, at the age of ten, took part in numerous radio and television productions as well as concert-tours.

He completed his studies in Cologne under Prof. Kai Wessel, where he became musically-inspired by Andreas Scholl, Frieder Lang, Klaus Giersch and Thomas Quasthoff. He sang several roles by Britten and Telemann at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich and earned acclaim at the Schwetzinger Festspiele 2009 in the title-role in Händel‘s opera "Ezio", and again at the Bonn Opera in 2010. He has made guest appearances at numerous festivals and is a frequent guest at the MDR as well as at the Brandenburg and Franconian Music Summer. A highlight in 2014 was the "Brockes Passion" at the Bachfest Leipzig with Christopher Hogwoods.

He sings regularly with renowned baroque ensembles, such as the Batzdorfer Hofkapelle, for example, in a production of the Hasse opera "Cleofide" at the Handelfestspiele in Halle under Michael Hofstatter, at the concert performance of Jean Baptiste Lully's opera "Phaeton" in Dresden as well as at the Hassler Consort as Riccardo Primo in Handel's opera of the same name lead by Franz Raml in this year's production of the opera at the theatre in Ulm.

His musical achievments over the decades are documented by several CD productions, among others "Messiah" with the Regensburger Domspatzen, and radio recordings with the orchestras of the WDR in Cologne, the NDR in Hanover as well as the Saarländischer Rundfunk and the SWR Stuttgart.

Victor Asamoah

was born in 1968 in West Berlin and grew up in Africa and Germany. From 1986 to 1991, he played football semi-professionally. From 1991 to 1998 he studied science and drama in Berlin. After successfully completing his studies, he worked as an actor in film and television, as a musician and as a dubbing artist in Berlin and Munich. From 2006 to 2011 he worked at the Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel in the Residenztheater Munich under Dieter Dorn. In 2006, his first and so far only album "Black or Blond" was released. From 2007 to 2010 he attended the sports school and acquired the football trainer licence of the DFB in Cologne. Victor Asamoah currently lives in Munich and works as a stage and film actor in German and international productions, as a dubbing artist in film and television and as a speaker for radio.

Jan Burkamp

has been playing the drums and percussion since he was six years old. He was a prize winner of the German federal competition „Jugend musiziert“ and was a member in the Lower Saxony State Youth Orchestra and the Federal Youth Orchestra. In 1996 he moved to Berlin to study Ethnology and to work as a drummer and percussionist in various groups and ensembles. Since graduating from the Freie Universität Berlin, he has continued to work as a drummer. He has shared the stage and studio with acts such as Jazzanova live, SEEED, Nicola Rost (LAING), Francesco Wilking (Die Höchste Eisenbahn), Lisa Bassenge (Micatone) and the Blue Man Group.

Romy Camerun

is a jazz singer and pianist who has performed with a number of renowned jazz musicians such as Clark Terry, Tony Lakatos and Till Brönner. Her latest CD "Romy Camerun live" is available on her website. In the theater she appeared in Mirko Borsht's production "Die Schutzbefohlenen" and Wajdi Mouawad's "Verbrennungen" at the Goethe Theater Bremen, as well as in "Der Auftrag" at the Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin. Romy Camerun teaches jazz singing at the Folkwang Hochschule Essen, at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover and at the Institut für Musik in Osnabrück.

Ernest Allan Hausmann

was born in Hamburg. He works as a freelance actor at Thalia Theater, Deutsche Theater, Schauspielhaus Zürich, BE and on other German-speaking stages. He has worked with Werner Schroeter, Fatih Akin, Nicolas Stemann and others. On television he is known for his series "Rote Rosen" (Red Roses).

Jerry Hoffmann

was born in Hamburg in 1989. He studied acting and directing in Munich, Los Angeles and Berlin. He made his film debut in 2010 with the leading role of Samir in the feature film "Shahada", which ran in the competition of the 60th Berlinale and won international prizes. Since then, Jerry Hoffmann has appeared in numerous national and international award-winning productions, including "Hitman: Agent 47", "Zeit der Helden" and the TV multi-part "Grzimek". At the Filmfest Munich, he was nominated as the best up-and-coming actor for his performance in the feature film "Heil". In 2013 he was selected as a talent at the Berlinale and in the same year nominated by Theater heute as the best young actor for his role Amor in "Ich rufe meine Brüder". His directorial debut "Lilou Coleur" is currently competing for the legacy study by Die ZEIT, the Federal Foreign Office and the German Film Academy. Hoffmann has worked at the Volksbühne Berlin and the Schauspielhaus Hamburg, and in 2014 he became a permanent member of the Maxim Gorki Theater, where he worked with directors such as Sebastian Nübling, Yael Ronen and Rene Pollesch. In 2017 he presented the First Steps Award together with Aylin Tezel and can currently be seen in the cinema with "Amelie rennt".

Moses Leo

born 1984, is a German-South African actor and performer. He completed his acting training at the Film University Babelsberg "Konrad Wolf" in Potsdam. He has worked at various German city- and state theatres, including the Theaterhaus Jena, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Ballhaus Naunynstrasse as well as the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and the Maxim Gorki Theater. In 2010 he was part of Andreas Kleinert’s ensemble film "Barriere", which was shown at the Berlinale. He is part of the award-winning "Stage for Human Rights" with its productions of asylum monologues and asylum dialogues. For some time now, Moses Leo has increasingly devoted himself to the field of visual art and performance. Together with the artist Robin Rhode, he developed the opera performance "Erwartung", which premiered at the Performa15 festival in New York City. He works closely with the artist Grada Kilomba. He produced the soundtrack for their video installation "The Desire Project" and took on the role of Narcissus in the performance "Illusions". These works were shown, among others, at the 32nd São Paulo Biennial and Documenta14 in Kassel.

Prisca Mbawala

was born in Germany, grew up in Tanzania and has lived in Germany since her youth. In Germany, she began to play the transverse flute and six months later passed the entrance examination at the Konservatorium Mannheim. She studied at the Hochschule für Musik Mainz and Frankfurt am Main. She studied instrumental pedagogy and orchestral music at the Hochschule für Musik Mannheim. She has been a freelance music teacher and musician since 1997 and works mainly with ensembles by creating new music and in crossover projects. She was the Musical Director of "Mittelreich" and she plays the German flute at the "ViVace Più" ensemble.

Isabelle Redfern

was born in Munich. After graduating from the Lion Feuchtwanger Gymnasium, she attended acting school in Hanover, before studying music at the Universität der Künste Berlin. She then became a member of the opera choir of the Bayreuth Festival. As an actress she worked at the Thalia Theater Hamburg, the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz Berlin, the Schauspielhaus Zürich, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Staatstheater Hannover and the Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin. Most recently, she played the role of Jory in the successful "foreign play of the year 2016", "Geächtet", in 3 productions: the German premiere at the Schauspielhaus Hamburg, as a representative at the Residenztheater Munich, and for one year in Tina Lanik's production of the play at the Burgtheater Vienna. Isabelle Redfern has her own theatre company MamaNoSing!, which is dedicated to musical theatre productions with classical music. Last year she appeared on television in the title role of "Papa und die Braut aus Kuba" in the Bavarian ARD romantic comedy.

Miriel J. Cutiño Torres

was born in 1985 in Havana/Cuba. Her training as a pianist began in 1992 at the music school "Manuel Saumell". There she took part in the composition competition for pupils and was awarded the second prize twice and the grand prize once. After passing the entrance examination, she studied for one year at the conservatory "ENA - Escuela Nacional de Arte". In October 2001 she came to Germany, where she first attended the Max-Joseph-Stift Gymnasium and took part in various student concerts. She then attended Karl von Linde Realschule, where she graduated. She enjoyed private piano lessons with Malvina Tchijik and occasionally with Leonid Chizhik. In 2006 she was taught composition by Wilfried Hiller and Eva Sindishakis and, from 2008, after attending the Vocational School for Music, she studied music education with classical piano as her main subject and bassoon as her minor subject at the Institute for Music of the Hochschule Osnabrück, where various compositions and arrangements were created. She currently lives in Munich, where she works as a piano teacher, composer, pianist and laboratory assistant.

Julian Warner

was born in 1985 and studied Theatre Studies, American Literary History and Ethnology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich. His first artistic research took place in the field of futurology for the "Brand Fiction Space" project of Audi AG. He curated workshops, performances and district projects for the Lothringer13 Kunstareal of Munich as well as lecture series at Favorit Bar. Since October 2015, he has been a research assistant at the Institute for Cultural Anthropology at the University of Göttingen. His main focuses are Black Diaspora Studies, racism and pop culture research. He is also part of the artistic research society HAUPTAKTION and the experimental volume 1115 (Alien Transistor).

All information taken from www.muenchner-kammerspiele.de