ITI-Centre Prize awarded on World Theatre Day

The German Centre of the International Theatre Institute is pleased to recognize

with its annual World Theatre Day Prize. This year the ITI honours a true champion of the German theatre.

Hübner's work as a theatre manager, actor and director – and his discovery of many theatre artists – has contributed immeasurably to the German theatre's international reputation.

Kurt Hübner's name is synonymous with the now legendary »Bremen Style«. His leadership from 1962 – 1973 of the Bremer Theater was one of the most important chapters of German theatre history in the twentieth century. Countless important personalities helped Hübner mount a politically explosive and brilliant style of theatre in Bremen – directors like Peter Zadek, Peter Stein, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Alfred Kirchner, Peter Palitzsch, Eberhard Fechner, Johannes Schaaf, Hans Neuenfels, Klaus Michael Grüber and stage designers such as Wilfied Minks and Erich Wonder. The acting ensemble included Jutta Lampe, Edith Clever, Bruno Ganz, Traugott Buhre, Buddy Elias, Hannelore Holger, Vadim Glowna, Mechthild Grossmann, Irm Hermann and many others. The »Bremen Style« represents a particular development of theatre in Germany, a particular quality linked to the break with conventions of seeing and to the confrontation with the audience and politics.

Following his intense tenure in Bremen, Hübner relocated to Berlin and the Freie Volksbühne. He has worked independently since 1986, writing and teaching at Munich's Theatre Academy among other places. Today, Kurt Hübner is 88. The ITI is pleased to honour his life's work on the occasion of World Theatre Day, 27 March 2005.

The ITI plans to present the award at a ceremony in June of this year in conjunction with "Theater der Welt. A Festival of the ITI and the Staatstheater Stuttgart".