The Australian theatre company Back to Back Theatre has been awarded the International Ibsen Award 2022, considered the ‘Nobel Prize of Theatre’.
Based in the Victorian regional centre of Geelong, they have undertaken 72 national and 89 international seasons of their work, performing at leading contemporary arts festivals and venues all over the world.
Featuring a neuro diverse ensemble of actors, Back to Back Theatre are the first Australians to win the award. Previous recipients include iconic artists such as Taylor Mac, Christoph Marthaler, Forced Entertainment, Peter Handke, Peter Brook, Ariane Mnouchkine, Heiner Goebbels, and Jon Fosse.
By fusing the factual and fictional, the experienced and speculative, the brutal and gentle, Back to Back Theatre creates dramatic art that is always unpredictable, always unexpected, always unique. Since starting out in 1987, they have, in the words of the awards committee, “consistently and defiantly challenged social and cultural perceptions and constructs.” Never settling for easy solutions and neat notions of closure, Back to Back Theatre opt instead for a theatre of possibilities, a theatre grounded in collaboration, multiple co-existing perspectives and necessary chaos, acknowledging that democracy is messy and difficult.
About the award
The Norwegian government established the International Ibsen Award in 2007. The winner receives NOK 2.5 million and is selected by a committee comprising six theatre professionals appointed by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture. The National Theatre hosts the secretariat of The International Ibsen Award and assists the committee. The award winner is announced every other year in connection to March 20, Henrik Ibsen's birthday, and the award ceremony will take place at the National Theatre in Oslo in September.
The award will be presented at a ceremony in Oslo on 18 September.
Anette Trettebergstuen, Minister of Culture and Equality of Norway said: “It’s thrilling to observe the development of the International Ibsen Award during its relatively short life span. In just a few years, the Award has grown to be one of the most prominent theatre prizes in the world, which says a lot about Ibsen´s significance both internationally and in Norway. In nominating this year’s recipient, the Committee has reached a decision that clearly demonstrates the artistic, social and ethical forces at work within the theatre. I congratulate the Australian theatre company Back to Back as the winners of this year’s International Ibsen Award.
“Back to Back is an innovative, fearless and unique theatre company that puts important ethical and human issues on the agenda. This year’s winners demonstrate a fundamental respect for the individual, creating a theatre that places the human centre stage, while asking difficult questions of their audience, the wider community, and themselves.”
Ingrid Lorentzen, Chair of the International Ibsen Award Committee and Artistic Director of the Norwegian National Ballet said: “We are proud to be able to honor an outstanding and unique theater company that asks questions of their audience, of society and of each other through groundbreaking productions. Back to Back's work is exciting, unsettling and thought-provoking. It inspires us to be better artists and better people.
“Back to Back gives voice to social and political issues, and their work is a relentlessly collective practice, where several creators, ideas and perspectives are always present and create a space for inclusion and opportunities. This is part of what makes their work so memorable and so important.
“Back to Back's work has inspired and moved each of us in the committee, and we look forward to presenting this well-earned award to this theatre company.”
Scott Price, ensemble member of Back to Back, Winner of the International Ibsen Award 2022 said: “It is an honour to receive this major award for our achievements in theatre. It means a lot. It means recognition of our art. It is a privilege and an honour. It was probably the proudest day in my career.”
Bruce Gladwin, Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Back to Back said: “Many amazing artists have collaborated with the Back to Back Ensemble over the last 30 years, the presentation of The International Ibsen Award honours not only the Ensemble’s talent and unique insight as social commentators but the richness and depth of Australian contemporary theatre.”
Maria Delgado, a Member of the International Ibsen Award Committee and Vice Principal of The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London said: “Back to Back make theatre that matters; theatre that invites its audiences to think about the issues that shape our world, the company does this with wit, compassion, humour and a profound understanding of how theatre works as both a craft and an art form. Theatre as a form of establishing community but also with a recognition that dissent, discussion and debate is the very space of both democracy and theatre. Back to Back make brilliant theatre because they understand that theatre operates as a way of both understanding the world and engaging with the world. It is wonderful to see the seminal body of work they have produced over decades recognised with this Award.”
