# Nestroy Theatre Prize

The Nestroy Theatre Prize is an Austrian theatre award named after the poet Johann Nestroy. In 2000, the city of Vienna decided to combine two less noticed theatre awards: the Kainz Medal and the Nestroy Ring for Viennese Satire. The prize honours outstanding achievements at the Viennese and other Austrian theatres. The prize has been awarded annually in eight up to fourteen categories. Its ceremony is held in Vienna and broadcast live on national television.

## Categories

* Best German-language performance
* Best direction
* Best equipment
* Best actress
* Best actor
* Best supporting role
* Best young talent
* Best off production
* Best play – Authors prize
* Lifetime achievement
* Special prize
* Audience award
* Best federal state performance

## Recipients best direction

| Year | Recipient | Production | Author |
| 2000 | Luc Bondy | Die Möwe (The Seagull) | Anton Chekhov |
| 2001 | Peter Zadek | Rosmersholm | Henrik Ibsen |
| 2002 | Michael Schottenberg | Der Talisman | Johann Nestroy |
| 2003 | Andrea Breth | Emilia Galotti | Gotthold Ephraim Lessing |
| 2004 | Stephan Kimmig | Das goldene Vlies (The Golden Fleece) | Franz Grillparzer |
| 2005 | Christoph Marthaler | Schutz vor der Zukunft | |
| 2006 | Karin Beier | Kleinbürger (The Philistines) | Maxim Gorky |
| 2007 | Grzegorz Jarzyna | Medea | |
| 2008 | Stefan Bachmann | Verbrennungen (Incendies) | Wajdi Mouawad |
| 2009 | Martin Kušej | Der Weibsteufel | Karl Schönherr |
| 2010 | Alvis Hermanis | Eine Familie (August: Osage County) | Tracy Letts |
| 2011 | Andrea Breth | Zwischenfälle | |
| 2012 | Stephanie Mohr | Woyzeck & The Tiger Lillies | Georg Büchner |
| 2013 | Michael Thalheimer | Elektra | Hugo von Hofmannsthal |
| 2014 | Krystian Lupa | Holzfällen (Woodcutters) | Thomas Bernhard |
| 2015 | Simon Stone | John Gabriel Borkman | Henrik Ibsen |
| 2016 | Andrea Breth | Diese Geschichte von Ihnen (This Story of Yours) | John Hopkins |
| 2017 | Elmar Goerden [de] | Stage version of Die Verdammten (The Damned) | Luchino Visconti |
| 2018 | Dušan David Pařízek | Vor Sonnenaufgang (Before Sunrise) | Ewald Palmetshofer after Gerhart Hauptmann |
| 2019 | Johan Simons | Woyzeck | Georg Büchner |
| 2020 | Florentina Holzinger | TANZ. Eine sylphidische Träumerei in Stunts | |
| 2021 | Barbara Frey [de] | Automatenbüfett | |
| 2022 | Claudia Bauer | humanistää! – eine abschaffung der sparten | Ernst Jandl |
| 2023 | Tomas Schweigen | Faarm Animaal | George Orwell |

## Recipients best actress

| Jahr | Actress | Production | Role |
| 2000 | Birgit Doll | Wer hat Angst vor Virginia Woolf? | Martha |
| 2001 | Judith Engel | Bash | Sue/Die Frau |
| 2002 | Ulli Maier | Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften | Agathe |
| 2003 | Maria Happel | Die Zeit der Plancks | Maria |
| 2004 | Birgit Minichmayr | Das goldene Vlies | Medea |
| 2005 | Sunnyi Melles | Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald | Valerie |
| 2006 | Edith Clever | Schlaf | Die ältere Frau |
| 2007 | Sylvie Rohrer | Medea. A project by Grzegorz Jarzyna & Über Tiere | Medea, Monolog |
| 2008 | Regina Fritsch | Verbrennungen | Nawal |
| 2009 | Birgit Minichmayr | Der Weibsteufel | Weib |
| 2010 | Kirsten Dene | Eine Familie | Violet Weston |
| 2011 | Sarah Viktoria Frick | Stallerhof | Beppi |
| 2012 | Dörte Lyssewski | Endstation Sehnsucht (A Streetcar Named Desire) | Blanche DuBois |
| 2013 | Christiane von Poelnitz | Elektra (Hofmannsthal) | Elektra |
| 2014 | Nicole Heesters | Vor dem Ruhestand | Vera |
| 2015 | Elisabeth Orth [de] | die unverheiratete | Die Alte |
| 2016 | Sona MacDonald | Fräulein Julie & Blue Moon | Julie, Sie |
| 2017 | Andrea Jonasson [de] | Stage version of The Damned | Sophie von Essenbeck |
| 2018 | Caroline Peters | Hotel Strindberg | multiple roles |
| 2019 | Steffi Krautz | Endstation Sehnsucht | Blanche DuBois |
| 2020 | Caroline Peters | Schwarzwasser | |
| 2021 | Lina Beckmann | Richard the Kid & the King | Richard |
| 2022 | Sarah Viktoria Frick | Adern | Aloisia |
| 2023 | Saioa Alvarez Ruiz | Ophelia's Got Talent | |

## Recipients best actor

| Year | Actor | Production | Role |
| 2000 | Gert Voss | Die Möwe | Trigorin |
| 2001 | Sven-Eric Bechtolf | Drei Mal Leben | Hubert Finidori |
| 2002 | Sven-Eric Bechtolf | Das weite Land | Hofreiter |
| 2003 | Markus Hering | Chorphantasie | Conductor |
| 2004 | Toni Slama | Automatenbüffet | Adam |
| 2005 | Michael Maertens | König Ottokars Glück und Ende | Rudolf von Habsburg |
| 2005 | Nicholas Ofczarek | Zu ebener Erde und erster Stock, König Ottokars Glück und Ende | Johann, Zawisch |
| 2006 | Nicholas Ofczarek | Höllenangst | Wendelin |
| 2007 | Bernhard Schir | Das Fest | Christian |
| 2008 | Markus Hering | Verbrennungen, Freier Fall, Pool (Kein Wasser) | Hermile, Erich, C |
| 2009 | André Jung | Das letzte Band / Bis dass der Tag euch scheidet oder Eine Frage des Lichts | Krapp |
| 2010 | Martin Wuttke | Das Begräbnis & Peking Opel | Christian |
| 2011 | Max Mayer | Grillenparz & Bruno Schulz: Messias | Hunter called Fischer, multiple roles |
| 2012 | Joachim Meyerhoff | Die Kommune |
| 2013 | Gregor Bloéb | Jägerstätter (Mitterer) | Franz Jägerstätter |
| 2014 | August Diehl | Hamlet | Hamlet |
| 2015 | Martin Wuttke | John Gabriel Borkman | John Gabriel Borkman |
| 2016 | Rainer Galke | Alte Meister | Irrsigler |
| 2017 | Joachim Meyerhoff | Die Welt im Rücken | |
| 2018 | Peter Simonischek | The Who and the What | Afzal |
| 2019 | Steven Scharf | Medea (Simon Stone) and Woyzeck | Lucas and Franz Woyzeck |
| 2020 | Franz Pätzold | Die Bakchen | Dionysos |
| 2021 | Michael Maertens | Der Leichenverbrenner | Karel Kopfrkingl |
| 2022 | Samouil Stoyanov | humanistää! – eine abschaffung der sparten | |
| 2023 | Michael Maertens | Das weite Land | Friedrich Hofreiter |

## Recipients best play – authors prize

| Year | Play | Author |
| 2000 | Der Name | Jon Fosse |
| 2001 | Die Unsichtbare. Tirade an drei Stränden | Christoph Ransmayr |
| 2002 | Push up 1 – 3 | Roland Schimmelpfennig |
| 2003 | Chorphantasie | Gert Jonke |
| 2004 | Die Ziege oder Wer ist Sylvia? (The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?) | Edward Albee |
| 2005 | Hunt oder Der totale Februar | Franzobel |
| 2006 | Die versunkene Kathedrale (The Sunken Cathedral) | Gert Jonke |
| 2007 | Das purpurne Muttermal | René Pollesch |
| 2008 | Freier Fall | Gert Jonke |
| 2009 | Besuch bei dem Vater (Visit at the Father) | Roland Schimmelpfennig |
| 2010 | worst case | Kathrin Röggla |
| 2011 | Immer noch Sturm (Storm Still) | Peter Handke |
| 2012 | Geister in Princeton (Ghosts in Princeton) | Daniel Kehlmann |
| 2013 | Schatten (Euridyke sagt) (Shadow (Eurydice Says)) | Elfriede Jelinek |
| 2014 | Die Ereignisse (The Events) | David Greig |
| 2015 | Die lächerliche Finsternis | Wolfram Lotz |
| 2016 | Lost and Found | Yael Ronen |
| 2017 | Geächtet (Disgraced) | Ayad Akhtar |
| 2018 | jedermann (stirbt) | Ferdinand Schmalz |
| 2019 | Hass-Triptychon – Wege aus der Krise (Hate Triptych – Ways out of the crisis) | Sibylle Berg |
| 2020 | Schwarzwasser | Elfriede Jelinek |
| 2021 | Rand | Miroslava Svolikova |
| 2022 | Adern | Lisa Wentz |
| 2023 | karpatenflecken | Thomas Perle |

## Recipients lifetime achievement

| Year | Recipient | Laudator |
| 2000 | Otto Schenk | Sunnyi Melles |
| 2001 | George Tabori | Angelica Domröse |
| 2002 | Claus Peymann | André Heller |
| 2003 | Gusti Wolf | Michael Heltau |
| 2004 | Hans Gratzer | Michael Schottenberg |
| 2005 | Michael Heltau | Klaus Bachler |
| 2006 | Walter Schmidinger | Klaus Maria Brandauer |
| 2007 | Hilde Sochor | Paulus Manker |
| 2008 | Peter Zadek | Matthias Matussek |
| 2009 | Otto Tausig | Gerhard Klingenberg |
| 2010 | Ulrike Kaufmann and Erwin Piplits | Karl Markovics |
| 2011 | Peter Turrini | Kirsten Dene, text by Elfriede Jelinek |
| 2012 | Karlheinz Hackl | Heinz Marecek |
| 2013 | Luc Bondy | Johanna Wokalek |
| 2014 | Klaus Maria Brandauer | István Szabó |
| 2015 | Achim Freyer | Hermann Beil |
| 2016 | Frank Castorf | Jasna Fritzi Bauer |
| 2017 | Kirsten Dene | Michael Maertens |
| 2018 | Peter Handke | Klaus Maria Brandauer |
| 2019 | Andrea Breth | Roland Koch [de] |
| 2020 | Christoph Marthaler | |
| 2021 | Elfriede Jelinek | |
| 2022 | Elisabeth Orth [de] | Karin Bergmann |
| 2023 | Emmy Werner | Karl Markovics |
| 2024 | Felix Mitterer | |