Events, Projects, News Ongoing projects Project archive World Theatre Day Awards Illusionist prize Nordic Drama Award News	Awards Illusionist prize Every second year in connection with the World Theatre Day celebration, the Finnish Theatre Information Centre awards Illusionist prizes for Finnish theatre people. Illusionists 1998-2006: 2006 Johanna Harjunpää, Marja Davidsson, Kaija Viinikainen 2004 Aila Lavaste 2002 Pirkko Paananen, Anneli Karppinen, Annamari Karjalainen 2000 Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Juhani W. Rytkölä, Hanna-Leena Helavuori, Pentti Paavolainen 1998 Sirpa Hölttä, Leila Lensu, Esa Kyllönen, Johan Storgård, Petri Tiainen, Tuula Väänänen, Juha Äystö, Ruth Dahlberg Nordic Drama Award Nordic Drama Award to Juha Jokela    The Finnish Minister of Culture and Sport Stefan Wallin handed out the Nordic Drama Award to Juha Jokela for his play The Fundamentalist on 9th August 2008 in Tampere. The other candidates for the 2008 Award were Om et øjeblik by Peter Asmussen (Denmark), Mishap! by Bjarni Jónsson (Iceland) and Valerie Jean Solanas ska bli president i Amerika by Sara Stridsberg (Sweden). Jury’s motivations: A refreshing, intelligent and consoling play about religion, people restricted by religion, and about the clash of different conceptions of religion. A human being’s need to believe in something bigger than himself leads to the conflict with his own nothingness. The play helps to understand that fundamentalism is so much more than narrow-minded men in turbans, and it gives the audience a possibility to set themselves into fundamentalism’s way of thinking instead of simply making judgements. In addition, it forces the readers to think about their own relationship towards the immaterial. The text digs unusually deep into the fundamental questions of humanity.   The Fundamentalist is ingenious in its simple dramatic construction. The language of the play reveals the insecurity hidden behind the characters’ conventional roles and ways of thinking. In 1992 The Nordic Theatre Union gave out for the first time the Nordic Drama Award. The intention of the award is to advance dramatic literature in the Nordic countries. Each Nordic country nominates every second year a candidate  for the award. The board of the Nordic Theatre Union serves as a jury for the competition. Winners of the award: 1992 Hrafnhildur Hagalin, Iceland: Jag är mestaren 1994 Svend Holm, Denmark: Schumans natt 1996 Paavo Haavikko, Finland: Anastasia ja minä 1998 Lars Norén, Sweden: Kliniken 2000 Jon Fosse, Norway: Ein sommars dag 2002 Jóanes Nielsen, Faroe Islands: Hedder noget land Week-end 2004 Astrid Saalbach, Denmark: Verdens Ende 2006 Kari Hotakainen, Finland: Punahukka 2008 Juha Jokela, Finland: Fundamentalisti Finnish candidates: 1992 Juha Siltanen: Foxtrot 1994 Kristian Smeds: Meän tyär 1996 Paavo Haavikko: Anastasia ja minä 1998 Jouko ja Juha Turkka: Rakkaita pettymyksiä rakkaudessa 2000 Reko Lundán: Aina joku eksyy 2002 Kristian Smeds: Yhä pimenevä talo 2004 Pirkko Saisio: Tunnottomuus 2006 Kari Hotakainen: Punahukka. 2008 Juha Jokela: Fundamentalisti