Festival „Neue Zeit, neue Dramatik 2025“

On 5 July 2025, the playwright Lennart Kos was awarded the International Edith and Werner Rieder Prize for New Drama (formerly the Munich Prize for New Drama). The jury honoured his play “IRIDIUM on earth”, which was presented as part of the Long Night of New Drama at the Munich Kammerspiele in a workshop reading (directed by Olivia Axel Scheucher).

With prize money of 20,000 euros, the Edith and Werner Rieder Prize is one of the most highly endowed awards for drama in the German-speaking world. The prize is awarded biennially by the Department of Culture of the City of Munich, Drei Masken Verlag, the Münchner Kammerspiele and the Edith and Werner Rieder Foundation, whose increased commitment is also reflected in the prize’s name change.

The prize offers a platform, attention, trust and networking opportunities

The Edith and Werner Rieder Prize creates “a platform, attention, trust and networking opportunities”, according to juror Wiebke Puls. It is embedded in a two-month residency programme at the Münchner Kammerspiele, which offers the four nominated playwrights – Marie-Christin Janssen, Lennart Kos, Vincent Sauer and Ivan Vlatković – space for artistic development and exchange with theatre practitioners.

At the conclusion of the ‘Lange Nacht der neuen Dramatik’ (Long Night of New Drama), juror Wiebke Puls paid tribute to Lennart Kos’s text in her laudatory speech: