The Senate of the Romanian Theatre Union announced on Wednesday, 28 February 2024, the nominations for the UNITER Awards to be presented at the 32nd edition of the UNITER Awards Gala. The nominations jury was composed of theatre critics Alina Epîngeac, Cristina Rusiecki and Octavian Szalad. The productions that were considered by the jury are those that premiered between 1 January and 31 December 2023.

Director Irisz Kovacs' nomination for TSCHICK is among the nominations. Why We Took the Car, a stage adaptation by Robert Koall of Wolfgang Herrndorf's novel. The show premiered at the German State Theatre last January.


A cool odyssey for young people - TSCHICK. Why We Took the Car tells the story of Maik and Tschick, two teenagers who believe there must be a world beyond the one they know at home and at school. Maik comes from a German middle-class background, and for his parents the roads have long since parted, even though they still live under the same roof. Maik considers himself an outsider, as does Tschick, whose family moved from Russia to Germany. At first, the only thing the two have in common is a sense of being strangers in a society that makes it difficult for them. With a stolen car, they decide to flee Berlin and embark on a journey that will become an odyssey. At the end of it is the exploration of reality and self-exploration. They get to know people who do not devote their lives to consumption, but show kindness and solidarity. Maik and Tschick discover freedom, the poetry of the world and friendship for each other. At the same time, Maik meets for the first time the feeling of love with Isa, a girl of the same age who lives in a rubbish dump and is apparently also on the run.


Irisz Kovacs (b.1999) is a theatre director and photographer. She was the winner of the D-butan-T 2021 festival-competition and director of the Fresh Start residency at the Reactor for Creation and Experiment, where the show "A Child on a Litre of Petrol" was born and performed at the Șerban Ionescu Festival, Fest FDR, Undercloud. For the show "8 fathers" at the Constanta State Theatre, selected for the National Theatre Festival, she was nominated for the Uniter award for debut.


About TSCHICK. Why We Took The Car, Irisz told us:


"What attracted me to TSCHICK. Why We Took the Car is that, although it is a play aimed at a young audience, it does not take a moralistic stance. I found here both the boyish friendliness I envied all my childhood and the escapist fantasy I've kept all my life: the desire to take the car and drive without destination, without schedule, without repercussions. Though he doesn't scold us, doesn't tell us to stick to school or be polite to adults, Tschick still dares to tell us how we should live: for and in tenderness."

Full list of nominations: https://www.uniter.ro/premiile-senatului-si-nominalizarile-pentru-premiile-galei-uniter-2024/



The 32nd edition of the UNITER Awards Gala will take place on Monday 27 May 2024 at the "Ion Caramitru" Hall of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest.





Congratulations, Irisz!