O.E. Hasse Prize 2016 Presented to Joshua Jaco Seelenbinder

The O.E. Hasse Prize 2016 is being awarded to Joshua Jaco Seelenbinder from the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Art in Berlin. The prize, endowed with € 5,000, is dedicated to fostering outstanding acting talents. The O.E. Hasse Foundation, administered by the Akademie der Künste, presents the award on an annually rotating basis to students of acting at the Otto-Falckenberg-Schule in Munich and the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Art in Berlin.

Joshua Jaco Seelenbinder, born in Achim near Bremen in 1990, grew up in the town of Leer in East Frisia, in north-west Germany. He is now in his third year at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Art. The jury awarded the O.E. Hasse Prize for his interpretation of the role of Kaliayev in the Studio Theatre performance of Die Gerechten/Das fahle Pferd (The Just Assassins/The Pale Horse) by Albert Camus/Boris Savinkov (directed by Marcel Kohler) as well as for, as jury member Klaus Völker noted, his “moving, crystal clear portrayal” of Woyzeck “imploding with despair” in numerous scenes with Marie in Büchner’s play (directed by Angelika Waller). Overall, the jury statement continues, Joshua Jaco Seelenbinder’s personification of roles evidences “the strongly developed art of observing”, while his expressive energy is “strikingly influenced by a social gestus”.

The award ceremony in the bat-Studiotheater in Parkstraße in Berlin-Weißensee follows scenes performed from Die Gerechten/Das fahle Pferd and the role study for Büchner’s Woyzeck. Laudatory address by Akademie member Klaus Völker.