Two of the four nominations for the 2023 Playwriting Prize are for the Dutch-Surinamese playwright and director Maarten van Hinte. The jury announced this on Thursday. The four nominations are for The Starhouse by Annet Bremen; The Gliphoeve from Bodil de la Parra, Geert Lageveen and Maarten van Hinte; Queen of Disco from Maarten van Hinte and Mater by Femke Van der Steen.
The nominated texts were selected from 93 submitted Dutch-language plays that were performed for the first time in 2022. The jury writes that it is convinced ‘that theater plays an essential role more than ever in sharing stories that belong to the collective memory but are barely told today. That is why the jury nominates four texts that excel in unpolished authorship, that provide a lot of reading and playing pleasure and that originated from the urgency to give a voice to those who have been barely heard for too long.”
About The Starhouse by Annet Bremen, the jury says: „In a blistering language that is polyphonic, rhythmic, poetic, never floaty and crystal clear, Bremen takes the reader to an orphanage in Heerlen where hundreds of children were taken care of between 1945 and 1983. Bremen’s poetic pen does not anoint loneliness and sorrow. The poetry triggers the imagination and, therefore, the emotions of the reader. This accessible text cuts into your heart.”
About the The Gliphoeve by Bodil de la Parra, Geert Lageveen & Maarten van Hinte: “This triumvirate wrote a dazzling story about a Surinamese family trying to find happiness in the Netherlands. The trio has one thing in mind: to tell the story in such a way – with fierce, smooth dialogues and frolicking with theater writing techniques – that the reader can really get under the skin of the characters. The authors immerse the reader in the heads of those Surinamese people, in their hearts filled with despair and their longing for a better life. You are shocked how recognizable this story is still for too many people in 2023.”
Rise of AIDS
About Queen of Disco van Maarten van Hinte: „In bright, melodic lines, Maarten van Hinte sketches a refined portrait of the musician Sylvester James (known from ‘You Make Me Feel’, among other things) and shows the merit of the black community in the birth of pride. At the same time, this piece tells about the rise of AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s in the US. Sylvester James’ songs are the original framework for this sometimes funny and often moving piece.”
About Mater by Femke Van der Steen: “Women undergo the horror of men and pay back with even more horror. That seems to be the common thread running through this master’s thesis by Femke Van der Steen. Van der Steen uses an eloquent chorus and ditto narrator who guide the reader through the turbulent waters that this piece is. In a playful language steeped in dialectal sounds, she writes a firm, almost ritualistic portrait of ‘the woman’ who defends herself. She shows herself to be an adventurous author who lets the language ‘act’ and transform like a character.”
The Toneelwriting Prize is awarded alternately in the Netherlands and Belgium, this time during the Belgian TheaterFestival on 15 September at the Kaaistudios in Brussels. The author of the award-winning text receives 10,000 euros. The four nominees each receive 1,000 euros. In addition, one of the nominees receives the Translation Prize, whereby the winning work is rewarded with a translation.
Last year the award went to The why answered by Mathieu Wijdeven and Raoul de Jong.
The Toneelwriting Prize is a collaboration between Literature Flanders, the Dutch Foundation for Literature, the Language Union and the Performing Arts Fund NL and is made possible in part by the Lira Fund, Sabam for Culture and deAuteurs.