What could be more magical than letting your imagination run wild?

| play description |

You may not remember, but there was a moment in our lives when everything was new and in flux, and we were busy building relationships with the world around us all the time. Barely for the blink of an eye. Flip: our clothes become a toy. Flop: our body becomes a game. And so we invent a whole universe, experimenting with different ways of being and relating to each other and the world.

Flip-Flop is a scenic game with gentle courage that inspires the audience's playfulness and opens the space for new experiences and narratives. A journey of transformation to discover a new world and many versions of the self can begin.

| From the jury statement|

Varied and precisely choreographed, "Flip Flop" offers a dance Theatre experience skillfully realized for its young audience. Expressive and at the same time open to interpretation, Nasheeka Nedsreal's concept creates spaces for self-expression and self-discovery. What can and may this world be, if we invent and dream it up? What are we in the world? How do we experience and perceive it? What does the world experience from and through us? Profound questions are made tangible and experienceable in a low-threshold way, without words, purely through play. From the versatile stage design and props to the acoustic level and the choreography, all levels come together to form an impressive whole.

| O-Ton Jury |

Imaginative and magical is the journey to which the young audience is invited with "Flip Flop". It opens up spaces for their own imagination, exploration and worlds of experience. With harmony on all levels, the production succeeds in both experimentation and the very concrete artistic result.

| Performance dates until the IKARUS award ceremony |

26.10.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: FELD Theatre für junges Publikum
27.10.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: FELD Theatre for Young Audiences

Idea / Concept: Nasheeka Nedsreal
Dance / Choreography: Nasheeka Nedsreal, Cíntia Rangel, Guilherme Morais
Dramaturgy: Guilherme Morais
Collaboration Set Design / Production Assistance: Anna Schröder
Sound Design: Edgardo Gomez
Project Management: Vera Strobel

One sister doesn't know what to do. The other one knows even more.

| play description |

Rosenrot tells us the story of her childhood and why a dwarf lives in her garden. Of course also why Neeweißnich knows more than she thought in the end.
She marries Bärtram a prince who really still has a lot to learn.

An exciting fairy tale, in which the question is always: Who owns the world and who is actually the bear?
With a lot of linguistic wit and beautiful figures by Mechtild Nienaber, the fairy tale of Snow White and Rose Red is retold and still remains intact.

| From the jury statement

In a detailed stage design that takes us back to the 1950s with a wink, the production presents a refreshingly idiosyncratic and humorous interpretation of the classic fairy tale about two sisters who have to deal with bears and dwarfs and yes, even a prince. Without the morals usually inherent in the fairy tale form and playing with role clichés, the story is also told with great lightness about big questions of today's togetherness. The wonderfully detailed characters are skillfully animated and brought to life by Anna Wagner-Fregin with a lot of joy and humor. With ease, the player switches between the different narrative levels. Younger as well as older audience members follow her with equal excitement!

| O-Ton Jury |

An idiosyncratic fairy tale narrative meets texts full of wit, great joy in acting, craftsmanship and a coherent aesthetic from the stage design to the music. This is puppetry at its best, which brings all generations together and is simply a lot of fun!

| Performance dates until the IKARUS award ceremony |

8.10.2023: 11 am & 3 pm | Venue: Theatre im Bergmannkiez
10.10.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: Theatre im Bergmannkiez
12.10.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: Theatre im Bergmannkiez
13.10.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: Theatre im Bergmannkiez
17.10.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: Theatre Zitadelle Berlin
18.10.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: Theatre Zitadelle Berlin
19.10.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: Theatre Zitadelle Berlin
20.10.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: Theatre Zitadelle Berlin
21.10.2023: 4 p.m. | Venue: Theatre Zitadelle Berlin

Director: Daniel Wagner
Co-director and production manager: Regina Wagner
Puppets: Mechtild Nienaber
Play: Anna Wagner-Fregin
Idea and text: Anna Wagner-Fregin and Daniel Wagner
Stage: Ralf Wagner, Daniel Wagner and team

A humorous dance Theatre about trusting one's own strength.

| play description |

The ugly duckling tries to do everything right and does everything wrong. Labelled as ugly and annoying by the duck community, he tries to be the duckiest duck of all and gets tangled in the nooses of an identity crisis. Thus begins an adventure journey driven by longing and defiance.

The production is a humorous dance Theatre about trust in one's own strength. With a total of four performers from music, dance and acting, an imaginative journey unfolds through the confusion of self-identification and identification with others, dedicated to the potentials of anger and longing. At the same time, the piece also focuses on the question of subjective use and role attribution. Is the duckling really ugly or is it a pigeonhole in one's own head why one perceives it as ugly? Is it possible to move beautifully in a body that is labeled as ugly by others? And what is a beautiful movement anyway?

| From the jury statement

Small, yellow and delicate it should be. But the duckling is big, loud and wild. It is constantly out of line. "I wish you were gone" escapes the mother. Wanting to belong and yet remaining unique - director Maria Walser deals with this conflict, sometimes in a fun and turbulent way, then again in a deeply touching way.

Falk Berghofer plays a heartbreaking mother duck, Gina-Lisa Maiwald and Steffi Sembdner-Erfurt are convincing as lifelike ducklings, and Marc Siegel gives the play its very own note with his double bass. The costumes made of recycled material fit perfectly into the picture: yellow rubber gloves become duck feet, old cassette tapes become feathers. A production that encourages us to be different.

| O-Ton Jury

With courageous casting ideas and recycled material, director Maria Walser has turned Hans Christian Andersen's classic into a fresh musical play about being different. To laugh, to cry and to think.

| Performance dates until the IKARUS award ceremony |

13.10.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: ATZE MusikTheatre
14.10.2023: 3 p.m. | Venue: ATZE MusikTheatre
1.11.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: ATZE MusikTheatre
2.11.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: ATZE MusikTheatre
4.11.2023: 3 p.m. | Venue: ATZE MusikTheatre

Director: Maria Walser
Assistant Director: Jana van Beek
Musical Direction: Marcus Thomas
Costume and Set Design: Frida Grubba
Dramaturgy: Matthias Schönfeldt
Sound & Light: Kevin Paetzold
Ensemble: Falk Berghofer, Gina-Lisa Maiwald, Marcel Siegel, Steffi Sembdner-Erfurt

Foxes vs. Penguins, 0:0 and kickoff! The player sprints, skilfully avoids her opponent and shoots the ball straight at goal. Does the goalkeeper keep the ball? - Tooooor! Or does she? And where is the ball anyway? Gone. How embarrassing.

| play description |

In this game between two women's soccer teams, everything really goes wrong. Absolutely nothing works as planned, but everyone does their best and wants only one thing: to play soccer - and of course to win. But that's not so easy when the grass hasn't been mowed for a long time, a player has forgotten her jersey and no one has painted penalty areas. The only thing missing from the list of embarrassments is an own goal.

Theatre maker Rachel Rosen tells a sports parable about failure peppered with superstition. On the sports field of life, players and fans try to keep their eye on the ball, even when no one knows where it is anymore. But that's the way it is sometimes when a women's team is assigned the ball field that no one really cares about. But that shouldn't stop them, because: the round has to go into the square!

| From the jury statement |

The Game" by Rachel Rosen is about a chaotic soccer game between two women's teams, or is it about the game of life in which nothing goes as it should? The production manages in a humorous and empathetic way to create an accessible world of experience on stage that reaches the audience immediately. In the process, events can be interpreted as direct narratives, parables, or something in between and beyond. After all, when things don't go as planned, the world sometimes literally spins in circles and the rules no longer make sense, we have to find our own goals and methods to stay in the game. With a lot of dynamics, musical accompaniment and a lot of play (joy), the production offers the young (and also the older) audience a moving and rousing Theatre experience.

| O-Ton Jury

"The Game" offers a space of exploration and possibility. With sophistication, the production moves through scenes and scenarios that are familiar yet absurd, making experiences tangible for the audience in a humorous yet expressive way.

| Performance dates until the IKARUS award ceremony |

29.09.2023: 10 am | Venue: Theatre an der Parkaue - Junges StaatsTheatre Berlin
30.09.2023: 14.30 & 16.30 | Venue: Theatre an der Parkaue - Junges StaatsTheatre Berlin
18.10.2023: 11 a.m. | Venue: Theatre an der Parkaue - Junges StaatsTheatre Berlin
19.10.2023: 11 a.m. | Venue: Theatre an der Parkaue - Junges StaatsTheatre Berlin

Director: Alexander Riemenschneider
Stage: Johanna Pfau
Costumes: Johanna Pfau after designs by Rachel Rosen
Music: Jarita Freydank
Dramaturgy: Luise Würth
Artistic mediation: Soraya Reichl
With: Jarita Freydank, Elisabeth Heckel, Salome Kießling, Mira Tscherne

The play was developed in the context of Leonie Graf's "Research on Theatre for Young Audiences by Artists with Disabilities".

An urban dance fairy tale about the art of saying no and about the question of how to find oneself in times of crisis.

| piece description

Do you remember Dorothy and her friends, the scarecrow, the tin man and the lion? Of the red shoes, of the "yellow brick road"? Choreographer Joy Alpuerto Ritter brings the characters of the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" back to life and shows us a modern, dance interpretation of this popular American children's fairy tale.

In OZ, the characters of the film come together in the form of different dance worlds, including hip-hop, breaking and contemporary dance. They are all united by the experience of self-doubt and pressure to conform. Together they escape their oppressive everyday lives and discover on their journey that they can change unjust power structures themselves.

| From the jury statement |

"Oz - The Magic in Us" takes the audience on a fantastic journey, for which Joy Alpuerto Ritter translates the story of the Wizard of Oz into an urban dance fairy tale. The characters of the original meet in fascinating dance worlds and embark on a journey together. The stage and lighting design emphasize in a very simple yet complex way not only the change of place but also the change of mood of the characters. Powerful choreographies convince by their coherence, their aesthetics and surprising moments. The dancing solos create impressively individual characters, which connect and change with the other characters in the original group choreographies. OZ - Der Zauber in uns is an acoustically, dance-wise and visually captivating dance Theatre piece that takes the issues of its youthful audience on board and seriously.

| O-Ton Jury

"Oz - the magic within us" is a danced ode to the power of cohesion, the power of diversity, and the strength within each of us. Dynamic, powerful and full of emotion, the audience is swept into the action and never let go.

| Performance dates until the IKARUS award ceremony |

6.10.2023: 10.30 a.m. | Venue: Podewil
7.10.2023: 6 p.m. | Venue: Podewil
8.10.2023: 4 p.m. | Venue: Podewil
10.10.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: Podewil

Idea and Choreography: Joy Alpuerto Ritter
Dance: Alba De Miguel Fuertes, Joshua Nsubuga, Joy Alpuerto Ritter, Liam Wustrack
Dramaturgy: Livia Patrizi
Music/Sound Design: Sion Trefor
Song "A Golden Path": Max Prosa
Visuals/Stage Design: Lucian Patermann
Costumes: Linda Spörl
Lighting Design: Fabian Bleisch
Texts: Lukas Steltner
Voice of the Narrator: Livia Patrizi

When was the last time you really rested? Simply taken a PAUSE?

| piece description |

Higher. Faster. Further. More. This social mantra starts as early as school and continues on Insta, in education and at work. But what happens when we resist the pressure of expectations, when we hit the stop button and take a PAUSE? When we sleep in, chill out, do nothing, or do exactly what we feel like doing? How can we balance that with the MSA, finding a career, or working? And how can taking a PAUSE be a political act?

Theatre with young people for young people, that's important. With "Macht PAUSE", the first participatory production of Parkaue has been on the playbill since April 2023. The choreographer and visual artist Magda Korsinsky, who deals with questions of identity and self-empowerment in her work, was recruited to direct the play. Together with her, young people between the ages of 16 and 22 explored their own stories of taking a break. Using dance, moves and spoken word, they explored how bodies and language are also tools of resistance and what PAUSE can do.

| From the jury statement

Magda Korsinsky's production allows eleven young people to expressively present their individual stories about pauses and societal pressure of expectations, be it through dance, speech or song. The focus is always on their individual experience. The performance is characterized by sincere honesty, purity and authenticity, without making any judgments. The performers radiate a powerful strength. One can literally feel the liberating unfolding and the pure joy of playing. The performances encourage one to stand up for oneself, to criticize society and to go one's own way - and yes, to take a break occasionally, without any discomfort.

| O-Ton Jury

With ease and an authentic energy, a diverse ensemble of young women reveals their individual experiences, dares to be critical of society and touches with its uncompromising honesty.

| Performance dates until the IKARUS award ceremony |

17.10.2023: 11 a.m. | Venue: Theatre an der Parkaue - Junges StaatsTheatre Berlin
18.10.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: Theatre an der Parkaue - Junges StaatsTheatre Berlin

Stage direction: Magda Korsinsky
Stage: Marian Nketiah
Costumes: Mariama Sow
Sound design: Sky Deep
Dramaturgy, artistic mediation: Amrit Walia
Writing workshop and rap coaching: Sookee
Writing workshop and rap coaching (group rap): Alice Dee
Lighting Design: Lutz Deppe
Consulting Relaxed Performance: Milena (Miles) Wendt / Angela Alves
By and with: Asena Ersöz, Chiamaka Ezeh, Marta Ivkić, Jasmin, Lena Sofia Lange, Liv Lauritzen, Andilath Maroufou, Elea Muna, Juli Schulz, Vanessa Semenihin, Christin Wieder

| play description |

We get to know a small family, caught in the typical labyrinth of everyday life. School stress, sibling quarrels, "growing up" between four walls that become increasingly smaller. We meet our main character in the middle of a mental crisis. A 15-year-old suffering from anxiety and panic attacks. He alternates between frightening exuberance and paralyzing apathy. Increasingly, he is followed by a panting shadow, with horns. His very own Minotaur. At home, he escapes further and further into himself. His parents can only weakly counteract the crisis. Classmates and teachers are at a loss;

Then comes the day of his fall. He has decided ... he wants to fly after all.

"IKARUS - F**ked Up" addresses the stigmatization, fears and prejudices against young people in emotional distress. Strong images combine acting, puppetry, animation and a great soundtrack in an apt and versatile production.

| From the jury statement |

Sam (15 y.) is getting worse and worse with his young life - but nobody seems to notice. School stress, family stress - and he is supposed to function. But sometimes he can't anymore! Combining show, puppet show and animation, Platypus Theatre manages to visualize Sam's inner world in a touching way and lets the audience dive deep into his world of thoughts and feelings. The IKARUS myth, which Sam is currently studying at school, permeates the play and is reinterpreted in a way that is both moving and surprising. IKARUS FU**KED UP courageously and authentically illuminates the challenges of young people in emotional distress, exposing the helplessness of support systems without condemning them. An extraordinary production that takes the audience along emotionally and continues to resonate for a long time.

| O-Ton Jury

IKARUS FU**KED UP is a gripping, authentic and extremely sensitive portrayal of the labyrinth of emotional burdens that gets right under the skin. The combination of various artistic elements creates a haunting atmosphere that immediately draws the audience into Sam's emotional journey.

| Performance dates until the IKARUS award ceremony |

5.10.2023: 11 a.m. | Venue: BKA Theatre
18.10.2023: 11 a.m. | Venue: Distel Kabarett Theatre

Director: Timo Radunz
Author: Rachel Pattison
Animation/Illustration: Antonio Castello
Performers: Roisin Brehony, Joshua Spriggs, Rachel Pattison
Assistant Director : Marcela Dias
Costumes: Anke Lenz
Set Design: Oliver Opara
Lighting/Technics: Richard Krutzsch

"Who gives life? Who kills? Who laughs with me? Who laughs at me? All the melting-flowing faces as in a dream - where is the face of daylight?"

| play description

What was just unimaginable happens: In the middle of the night, soldiers invade rooms and dreams. The child, who has just been sleeping gently, is forced to flee from his home. Mother and child board a ship that is supposed to offer them shelter, but find no safe haven. Along the way, they look into the various faces of humanity; generosity and malice, hope, powerlessness and loss stare back at them. Mother and child seek asylum, fight for their right to life, ask for help and appeal to the solidarity of the people they meet. And always accompanying the child is the question: is this reality or a bad dream?

"The Child Dreams" is inspired by the real-life story of the ship St. Louis, which set out from Hamburg in 1939 and sought asylum in Cuba from the horrors of Nazism, was rejected and forced to return to Europe. In 1993, Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin, with dark humor and in the Brechtian tradition of defamiliarization, presents flight and expulsion as universal experiences. At the same time, he explores the power of Theatre to provide solace. Together with a large ensemble, director Alexander Riemenschneider gives shape to the (dream) images of the present determined by flight and war and anchors them in Levin's allegorical narrative.

| From the jury statement |

With "Das Kind träumt" (The Child Dreams), the Parkaue team, directed by Alexander Riemenschneider, has achieved a remarkable ensemble performance. The play portrays in an all-encompocket booking and timeless way the story of a child who is exposed to war and has to flee with his mother. This is done relentlessly honestly, sometimes brutally. Through clownishly alienated moments and very affectionate and carefully selected images, the scenes experience a well thought-out aggravation. Glittering baubles hang from the ceiling, like soap bubbles threatened to burst - bursting dreams of a beautiful life. Ecertainly in times of omnipresent wars, of flight and expulsion, the production shows, very drastically, the events and powers families have to deal with during a flight. This goes very deep under the skin and remains in the mind for a long time.

| O-Ton Jury

Careful and sensitive play moments meet a timeless and yet highly topical text (in the original by Hanoch Levin). A strong production that touches in the right places without exposing the suffering, the violence and the characters.

| Performance dates until the IKARUS award ceremony |

12.10.2023: 6 p.m. | Venue: Theatre an der Parkaue - Junges StaatsTheatre Berlin
13.10.2023: 10 a.m. | Venue: Theatre an der Parkaue - Junges StaatsTheatre Berlin
14.10.2023: 6 p.m. | Venue: Theatre an der Parkaue - Junges StaatsTheatre Berlin

Director: Alexander Riemenschneider
Stage: David Hohmann
Costumes: Lili Wanner
Puppet construction/play: Ulrike Langenbein
Music and composition: Tobias Vethake, Karla Wenzel
Dramaturgy: Daniel Richter
Artistic mediation: Zaida Horstmann
With: Caroline Erdmann, Ulrike Langenbein, Hanni Lorenz, Ioana Nițulescu, Denis Pöpping, Andrej von Sallwitz, Nicolas Sidiropulos, Kofi Wahlen