Stage|Set|Scenery Announces Winners of the Weltenbauer.Awards and Weltenbauer.Youngsters.Awards 2017

The Weltenbauer.Awards went in search of the most original stage technology solutions for theatre, musical, and show productions from 2015 to 2017 -- from a spectacular stage production on a low budget to a reinvention of a classic piece with new ideas. And it was successful. The winners are as follows: "White Cube" by the American Theater Group, directed by Jörg Besser, in which a rotatable, rolling cube with sides that open out is the focus of attention; the production of "Kabale und Liebe" by Theater Bonn, directed by Sebastian Hannak, which features a vertical plate with a rectangular section on which actors can stand; and "Stille Kraft" by the Toneelgroup Amsterdam, directed by Wolf-Götz Schwörer, which uses 10,000 litres of water to make rain fall on stage. A special award goes to the entry entitled "1000 Jahre Kaiserdom Merseburg," under the supervision of Prof. Jürg Steiner of steiner.architektur. The jury considered the production to represent an especially outstanding example of stage technology at an exhibition.

Theatre, musical, show, TV, and event productions were all invited to enter the awards. Honors went not to an individual, but to an entire project. Entries were judged according to their originality, degree of innovation, and a stage technology solution's effectiveness, said Hubert Eckart, managing director of Deutsche Theatertechnische Gesellschaft (DTHG). The aim is to amaze audiences by employing technology in creative ways and for productions to re-interpret tried and tested systems.

The winners will receive their awards June 20 at Stage|Set|Scenery at the Palais am Funkturm on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds. The international trade show and conference is being co-organized by DTHG and Messe Berlin for the second time.

In addition to the Weltenbauer.Awards the Weltenbauer.Youngsters.Awards will be presented for the first time. The winners are Camilla Olesen, Ines Muhalic, and Maxi Schwarzkopf of Theaterakademie August Everding, Studiengang Maskenbild, with their interpretation of Romeo and Juliet as a nurse and patient in a psychiatric unit, as well as Tanja Drache of Wilhelm-Ostwald-Schule Oberstufenzentrum für Gestaltung Berlin with their production entitled Leben is beschissn - Who's free?. In this piece Romeo assumes the role of a graffiti artist on a high-rise housing estate. The Weltenbauer.Youngsters.Awards are worth 1,000 euros and are sponsored by Messe Berlin and Bühnentechnische Rundschau. They recognize creative ideas, be they models, drawings, or complete works.

The judges for both awards are as follows: DTHG board members Arved Hammerstädt, Olaf Grambow and Wesko Rohde, the Stage|Set|Scenery project managers of Messe Berlin, and Karin Winkelsesser of Bühnentechnische Rundschau. The awards ceremony will be held at the Palais am Funkturm on Thursday, June 20, 2017 and will begin at 6:30pm. Registration is required and is free: http://www.dthg.de/termine/kongress/.