Nominees for the Ibsen Prize 2025

The Ibsen Prize is awarded annually to a dramatic text that has had its world premiere or Norwegian premiere at a professional Norwegian theatre, or in another professional and artistic context, during the previous calendar year. The winner will be announced during a gala evening organized by the Sølvåren Ibsen Information Centre, Thursday 20 March at 7:00 p.m. at Ibsenhuset .

The jury has nominated the following three dramatic texts for the Ibsen Prize 2025:

• Jon Fosse is nominated for the third time with the play Einkvan, which premiered on April 25 at Det Norske Teatret. Fosse previously won the award in 1996 for Namnet and in 2021 for Slik var det.
• Goksøyr & Martens are nominated for the second time with the play MomA, which premiered on May 11, 2024 at Det Norske Teatret. They were previously nominated in 2020 for the play Dottera.
• Siri Broch Johansen is nominated for the play Per Hansen, a Faithful Man/oskkáldas almmái, which premiered at the Riksteatret on October 12, 2024. Johansen was previously nominated in 2023 for the play Sálva/Håndtak.

The national Ibsen Prize is Norway's only drama award, established by the municipality of Skien and first awarded in 1986. The prize consists of 150,000 kroner and a statuette made by Nina Sundbye. 

Reasons from this year's jury

Einkvan by Jon Fosse

Einkvan is a finely tuned stage text. With the beautiful title, the reader quickly feels that this could be about each and every one of us. The drama is clean-cut, with well-crafted details in every sentence, and has a dialogue that is rhythmically complete as a composition. Einkvan shows a lonely distance between two generations, a longing for a community with those close to you. In this text, Fosse explores closeness and distance in an elegant way, where the feeling of total powerlessness is described in a close and at the same time distanced way. The inherent desire in us to have the courage to love and forgive, and the hurt that arises from not being able to reach those closest to us, are expressed through a concentrated dialogue characterized by everyday phrases that are lifted to a greater meaning. Fosse puts into words thoughts that we rarely share with others around us, and Einkvan is a tribute to the drama that unfolds in all people's lives. 

Per Hansen, a faithful man/oskkáldas almmái by Siri Broch Johansen

Per Hansen, a Faithful Man is a text carved straight from the soil in which it takes place, a raw and unpolished depiction of the body, lust and love. Siri Broch Johansen/Juho-Sire describes both the inner and outer spaces in a way that stands in narrative relief to the action, and creates dynamics and progress in the text. This helps to give the story a larger context beyond the intimate spaces in which the drama takes place. The text alternates between being painful and poetic, direct and playful. Per Hansen is written with clear roots in the Sami, and the images and language are characterized by a northern landscape, while at the same time opening up spaces that everyone can enter and find recognition. The text succeeds in this, without oversimplifying. The author's writing style is characterized by a great understanding of linguistic means and dramatic craft, but also by narrative joy and progress. The way the text uses multilingualism further elevates the project. With Per Hansen, Siri Broch Johansen/Juho-Sire have written an everyday drama of fate about adult love and sexuality that never becomes banal, and is existential without shouting it out. It touches the deepest part of us: the longing for another person and the fear of being alone.

MomA by Goksøyr and Martens

MomA is the fifth work and the culmination of Goksøyr and Martens' magnificent pentalogy, whose partnership proves that good texts are not necessarily written by one person on the set. The drama takes a razor-sharp look at identity markers, and who we are to each other in both good and bad times. MomA is rich in references and bold, and in this fearless story we meet the young, up-and-coming theatre director Makena and her aunt Sigrun, an older, experienced stage artist who struggles to get commissions. Sigrun has acted as a bonus mother to Makena, whose own mother suffered from illness. Now that Makena has become an artistic success, the dynamic has been reversed: Sigrun has come to ask her for a favor. A central theme is the relationship between life and art: Who owns the story, and when do you have the right to use it artistically? The fragile and changeable nature of Makena's current – and Sigrun's former – power is supported by the fact that the action is set in the theatre industry, a field characterized by many temporary contracts and financial uncertainty. Goksøyr and Martens have written complex characters, where the two supporting roles, with the help of effective and sharp dialogue, also appear as fully-fledged individuals. The result is a dramatic page-turner, where the tension increases in step with the increasingly oppressive atmosphere.

The jury consists of:

• The Directors' Association – Simone Thiis (chair)
• Norwegian Critics Association – Tomine Sandal
• Norwegian Theatre Directors Forum – Cliff Moustache
• Norwegian Dramatists – Kristoffer Spender
• The Norwegian Playwrights' Association – Kristin Bjørn
• Skien municipality at Teater Ibsen - Bo Anders Sundstedt

We look forward to celebrating this year's nominees and announcing the winner at the awards ceremony on Ibsenhuset March 20.