OPEN CALL FOR TEXTS TO AURORA. THE DRAMA AWARD OF THE CITY OF BYDGOSZCZ 2024

AURORA. The Drama Award of the City of Bydgoszcz is awarded for outstanding contemporary drama. The competition is dedicated to playwrights from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia. As the idea statement claims  “The AURORA countries are united above all by a common history, but also by economic and emancipation experience. The commonality of political and social transformations provides an opportunity to develop new languages, narratives and aesthetics, which, in a diverse and complete way, can become an important voice in the construction of the region's identity.”

Authors from the following countries are invited to take part in the competition: Albania, Armenia,

Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. In face of the Russian war against Ukraine that is still going on, the committee of AURORA upholds the decision to exclude all candidates representing the Russian Federation. Works for the competition can be submitted in one of four languages: English, Polish, Russian or Ukrainian.

"For the past three years, the AURORA has given us a unique insight into the panorama of our region, into the processes and changes taking place in the social, political and cultural fields. In 2021, when we were mapping out the directions for this Award, we did not yet realize how frighteningly accurate this focus would be. The beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine in February 2022, exposed and put into doubt the centuries-old relationship in which Russia is constantly in the position of the center. AURORA countries are currently facing multi-dimensional processes of decolonization, changes in perceptions and various stages of searching for, or consolidating, our contemporary identities. In this reality, AURORA becomes not only a Competition that observes new theatrical trends and promotes new drama, but first and foremost becomes a kind of repository of cultural texts, documenting the processes taking place in the modern world” - says Julia Holewinska, deputy programme director of the Polish Theatre in Bydgoszcz.

The aim of the organizers of the AURORA is to create a platform for international theatre artists where they can come together around new dramatic writing, and to look for different angles on a global world in texts that force reflection and deepen knowledge of other cultures. In the first stage of the competition the Jury composed of: Daviit Gabunia, Julia Holewińska and Agnieszka Lubomira Piotrowska will select five final texts, which will be presented as stage sketches during the Prapremiery Festival 2024 between November 17 and 23. In the final, the Chapter will select the winning text and award the AURORA. The Drama Award of the City of Bydgoszcz in the amount of PLN 50,000.

In previous editions of the competition, the AURORA award went to Belarusian author and director Mikita Ilynchyk (“Dark Room”, 2021) Romanian playwright Elise Wilk (“disappearing”,2022) and Serbian writer and actor Danilo Brakočević (“Resistance of Tempered Glass”, 2023).

The 2024 call for entries runs until 15th of April. The competition regulation, application form and more information are available at www.auroraaward.pl.