The Festival
WESTWIND is one of the most renowned theatre festivals for young audiences nationwide. It is hosted by a different NRW theatre each year. In addition to a selection of NRW productions, the festival features international guest performances and an extensive programme of accompanying events including workshops, panels and discussions.
This year’s host
All good things come in threes! This year, COMEDIA Theater is hosting WESTWIND festival for the third time! Memories of 2018 are still fresh in our minds, yet so much is different this time! Since 2020, our theatre on the south side of Cologne has focused even more explicitly on serving as an arts & culture centre for young audiences. A place with more participation, more inclusion, more cooperation, more stylistic diversity and more internationality. We would like to extend a warm welcome to the 2021 Westwind festival and theatre convention!
Contact
COMEDIA Theater Köln
Vondelstraße 4–8
50677 Köln
awards ceremony after an eventful and successful week of theatre
The WESTWIND 2021 festival ended on August 25th. with the award ceremony.
The awards
The award jury, consisting of Elisabeth Clarke-Hasters, choreographer, dance & theatre educator and diversity coach; Sergej Gößner, actor & author; and Ulrike Stöck, artistic director of Junges Nationaltheater Mannheim, presented the awards of the 37th edition of WESTWIND NRW Festival for Young Audiences on the last day of the festival.
The prize money of 10,000 euros was provided by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The jury awarded the following prizes:
For the scenery and costumes of:
“(Amor und) Psyche – wie man eine Superheldin wird” (world premiere) by: Thorsten Bihegue
Junge Bühne Bochum in coproduction with Prinz Regent Theater Bochum and Ko-Labor Bochum
Esther van de Pas (costumes) and Michael Habelitz (scenery)
For the ensemble of:
“Löwenherzen” (world premiere) by Nino Haratischwili
Consol Theater Gelsenkirchen
Sibel Polat, Thomas Kaschel and Eric Rentmeister
For the ensemble of:
“W.H.A.M. Weißer Heterosexueller Alter Mann” (world premiere)
c.t.201, Cologne in coproduction with studiobühneköln
By and with: Dorothea Förtsch, Tim Mrosek and Sibel Polat
The children’s jury and the teen jury each awarded an amount of 2,000 euros to a production of their choosing, sponsored by RheinEnergieStiftung Kultur.
The children’s jury (Lena Becker, Liam Becker, Tilda Börjesson, Levi Kolonko, Larissa Kuhlmann, Amalia Lieb and Thea Sonnleithner) granted their award to:
“Löwenherzen” (world premiere) by Nino Haratischwili
Consol Theater Gelsenkirchen
Directed by: Andrea Kramer
The teen jury (Taylan Cagri, Michael Franzmann, Marc Lanssen, Clara Lühmann, Kian Najarajampour and Simon Zerzawy) granted their award to:
“The BIG Picture”
FETTER FISCH – Performance I Theater, Münster
Directed and choreographed by: Leandro Kees
COMEDIA’s Westwind team would like to congratulate all winners!
A press release and the detailed jury statements can be found HERE.