French Director to Receive 2009 Ibsen Award

OSLO - The second International Ibsen Award goes to French theatre director and founder of Theatre du Soleil, Ariane Mnouchkine.

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The International Ibsen Award, established by the Norwegian government in 2007, amounts to 2.5 million NOK (about 300,000 euro or 500,000 US dollars). The aim of the award is to honour an individual, organisation or institution within the arts that has demonstrated extraordinary achievements in the spirit of Ibsen.

To quote the jury: “Everyone who has seen one of Ariane Mnouchkine’s productions at the Theatre du Soleil in Paris leaves with the feeling of having been part of a tale of enchantment. A tale that is larger than life but at the same time reveals life. A fantastic journey that throws fresh light on history and contemporary society, that enriches thought and feeling and in dramatic language inspires an apparently paradoxical faith in the future.”

Ariane Mnouchkine was born on 3 March 1939 at Boulogne-sur-Mer. During her studies at the Sorbonne in Paris she started L’Atelier Theatral des Etudiants de Paris, which in 1964 became Theatre du Soleil.

Since 1970, Theatre du Soleil has been based in Cartoucherie near the Chateau de Vincennes on the outskirts of Paris. With the production 1789, Mnouchkine established a world-wide reputation as a theatre instructor, having a major effect not only on the audience but also on the development of Western theatre. To date, the productions at Cartoucherie, which more recently have featured works such as Le Dernier Caravanserail (2003-2004) and Les Ephemeres (2007-2009), have been watched by more than two million people.

Mnouchkine also directed the film Moliere, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978.

A workshop held by Mnouchkine in Afghanistan in 2005 led to the foundation of Theatre Aftab (meaning Theatre du Soleil in Persian) in Kabul.

To read the jury’s statements, go to ibsenawards.com (ibsenawards.com/index.php?cid=2). Here you can also download Ariane Mnouchkine’s CV and watch exclusive video footage from Theatre du Soleil in Paris.

For more information on the International Ibsen Award, click here: ibsenawards.com/article.php?cid=2&aid=12&typecat=0

For more information on the Committee for the International Ibsen Award, click here: ibsenawards.com/article.php?cid=2&aid=22&typecat=0

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Photography: Ariane Mnouchkine / (c) Michele Laurent

For further information, please contact Pia Emilie Lystad at mail@ibsenawards.com. Office: +47-22001667 Mobile: +47-41517181

Source: The Committee for the International Ibsen Award

For further information, please contact Pia Emilie Lystad at mail at ibsenawards.com. Office: +47-22001667 Mobile: +47-41517181