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Taylor Mac in the show Holiday Sauce … Pandemic! Photo: Little Fang
09-12-2020 14:47 CET
The world's greatest theatre prize isawarded to Taylor Mac
This Saturday, the American dramatic artist Taylor Mac receives theInternational Ibsen Award at an award ceremony at the National Theatre ofNorway. Afterwards, his show Holiday Sauce … Pandemic! will be streamedlive from New York.
Taylor Mac (b. 1973) is an American playwright, actor, drag queen, producer,director, singer, and songwriter – and this year’s winner of the InternationalIbsen Award.
The New York-based dramatic artist has performed on stages all over theworld, and Taylor Mac is the first American to receive the International IbsenAward. This Saturday, he will be celebrated with a formal award ceremony atthe National Theatre of Norway, hosted by TV presenter Anne Lindmo. Theaward will be presented by the Norwegian Minister of Culture and Equality,Abid Raja.
The award ceremony is followed by Mac’s explosive show Holiday Sauce …Pandemic! Both events are streamed live, from the National Theatre in Osloand from New York respectively.
Groundbreaking
– Taylor Mac is a groundbreaking dramatic artist and playwrigth. An artistwho in a spectacular fashion succeeds in offering other, richer perspectives ofthe times we live in and what it means to be human, says Ingrid Lorentzen,head of the award committee.
Mac’s shows are inspired by everything from commedia dell’arte, Greekdrama, drag, and modern musical theatre. His mode of expression isextravagant and maximalist, with bizarre and grand costumes, where thegrotesque and the beatiful go hand in hand – often directly addressing theaudience.
A game changer
– In the selection process, we have wished to honour a game changer,someone who opens our eyes to what the theatre can be. In Taylor Mac, wehave found a winner who looks beyond himself, a uniting force with aburning commitment to equality and community, Lorentsen says.
The specially made digital show Holiday Sauce … Pandemic! mixes music, film,burlesque, and extravagance, providing an entirely new framework forfamiliar Christmas songs and a festive season not everyone loves equally.Taylor challenges the conventions of Christmas with creativity andimagination – reminding us of the collective power of our chosen families,which may be more important than ever.
The world’s greatest theatre award
The International Ibsen Award is founded by the Norwegian Department ofCulture, and is awarded biannually. The award is for an individual,organisation, or institution within the arts that has made “an extraordinaryeffort in the spirit of Ibsen”. The winner is named by a committee consistingof seven members, and the award is a cash prize of NOK 2.5 million. Normallythe award is presented during the International Ibsen Festival at the NationalTheatre of Norway, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year we willhave a digital award ceremony – and a digital guest production.
Previous winners of the International Ibsen Award are Christoph Marthaler,Forced Entertainment, Peter Handke, Peter Brook, Ariane Mnouchkine, HeinerGoebbels, and Jon Fosse.
Programme, Saturday 12th December
19.00 Central European Time/01.00 p.m. New York Time:The ceremony is hosted by TV presenter Anne Lindmo, with a performance bymusician Nils Bech. Minister of Culture and Equality Abid Raja will presentthe award to Taylor Mac, who will give a personal acceptance speech. Theevent will be streamed, and can be watched free of charge.
20.00 Central European Time/02.00 p.m. New York Time:The show Holiday Sauce … Pandemic! will be streamed live at 20.00. After theshow, there will be a livestreamed meeting with Mac.
Read more about the show and ceremony. Both events can be watched here.
Read more about the International Ibsen Award and Taylor Mac.
Please contact us, if you want a free press code to the show.
Om Nationaltheatret
Nationaltheatret er Norges største teater med et uttalt mål om å bli anerkjentsom et av Europas ledende teatre, tradisjonsrikt og grensesprengende. Teatretligger i sentrum av Oslo – mellom slottet og Stortinget – i et praktbygg fra
forrige århundreskifte. Det har fire faste scener: Hovedscenen, Amfiscenen ogMalersalen, samt Torshovteatret, en biscene på Oslos østkant.
Kontaktpersoner
Øystein Hygen Christensen PressekontaktInformasjonssjefPressehenvendelser til teatersjef Kristian [email protected] 30 073
Elisabeth SødalLeder formidling og [email protected] 71 280
