A confrontational societal satire about the public school system, called “The School Comedy”, has just won the award for Show of the Year at the annual Reumert Awards, which took place Thursday evening at Odeon in Odense. The show was written and directed by Christian Lollike, and this year’s award ceremony marks another major triumph for Lollike, who also received the Honorary Award for his significant contribution to Danish performing arts.
Theatre director at Aarhus Theatre, Trine Holm Thomsen, gave the acceptance speech expressing great pride and gratitude for the award. “The School Comedy” was created based on letters and emails from teachers and students from public schools across the country and was staged at Aarhus Theatre earlier this year.
Christian Lollike is no stranger to the Reumert Awards. His previous work “Manifest 2083”, which deals with Anders Behring Breivik, won the Jury’s Special Prize at the Reumert Awards in 2013, the same year he was also honored as Playwright of the Year. The Honorary Award, which Lollike has now received, is given to a performing artist who has made a significant contribution to Danish performing arts over many years. Previous recipients of this recognition include prominent names such as Tammi Øst and Lisbet Dahl.
The award ceremony, known as the biggest performing arts award in Denmark, includes several categories. This year, Nathalie Mellbye was named Director of the Year for her work on “Traum” at Aarhus Theatre and Holstebro Dance Company, while Sophie Zinckernagel received the award for Playwright of the Year for Bådteatret’s “Aller Dybest Nede”.
A notable change at this year’s Reumert Awards is the elimination of gender-specific categories. Instead of separate awards for Actor of the Year and Actress of the Year, there was only one award for Performer of the Year, which went to Iben Hjejle for her performance in “The Doctor” at Folketeatret. The show is a Danish adaptation of Robert Icke’s British work “The Doctor” from 2019, and Hjejle plays a doctor who refuses a Catholic priest access to a 14-year-old girl who is near death after a self-induced abortion.