Open Call: International Edith and Werner Rieder Prize for New Drama 2027

Since 2009, the Münchner Kammerspiele has awarded the Munich Prize for New Drama every two years in collaboration with Drei Masken Verlag and the City of Munich. With a prize fund of 20,000 euros, the award – renamed the International Edith and Werner Rieder Prize for New Drama in 2025 – is considered one of the most highly endowed prizes for playwrights in the German-speaking theatre world.

The prize is aimed at playwrights at the start of their theatre careers who do not yet have a publisher.

Recent winners have included: Lennart Kos, Matthias van den Höfel, Liat Fassberg, Danijel Szeredy, Wilke Weermann, Joël Lázló, Nele Stuhler, Sascha Hargesheimer, Magdalena Schrefel, Juliane Stadelmann, Olivia Wenzel, Laura Naumann and Anne Lepper.

Eligibility criteria

The prize is aimed at artists at the start of their careers who have had no more than two works staged in the theatre to date and who are not yet represented by a theatre publisher in the German-speaking world.

Applications must include the following documents:

• 10–15 pages of representative excerpts from a completed text that has not yet been premiered
• 1 synopsis (max. 1 A4 page) of this completed text
• a synopsis (max. 3 A4 pages) for a second writing project to be developed during a residency in collaboration with the Münchner Kammerspiele
• a tabular CV with contact details

The above documents must be submitted either in German or with an English translation. The original language is unrestricted.

Each author may submit only one completed work and two synopses, which must be sent together in a single PDF file to foerderpreis.dramatik@muenchen.de.

In order to promote as wide a variety of perspectives as possible, we would like to encourage people with a migration background to apply for the International Edith and Werner Rieder Prize for New Drama.

Procedure

In the run-up to the awarding of the International Edith and Werner Rieder Prize for New Drama, a jury selects up to five playwrights from among the applicants to be invited to a writers’ residency in Munich. This residency serves to develop a new writing project in collaboration with the Kammerspiele and concludes with the award ceremony during the Long Night of New Drama in June 2027 at the Kammerspiele.

The Munich Kammerspiele will present the completed plays nominated for the prize as part of workshop productions during the Long Night of New Drama.

In the following season, they plan to present the play on which the prize winner worked during the residency in the Werkraum.

Prize money / Options

The prize money for the International Edith and Werner Rieder Prize for New Drama amounts to 20,000 euros. In addition, the residency is endowed with 3,500 euros per author or nominated collective. The Münchner Kammerspiele are granted a time-limited option for the world premiere of all plays nominated for the prize. Furthermore, accommodation in Munich is provided for the candidates nominated for the prize.

Drei Masken Verlag offers the prize winners a publishing contract. The award ceremony is scheduled for June 2027 during the Long Night of New Drama as part of the ‘New Times, New Drama’ programme focus at the Münchner Kammerspiele.

Jury

The jury comprises representatives from the Department of Culture of the City of Munich, the Münchner Kammerspiele, Drei Masken Verlag, and external experts. Further details regarding the jury will be published here shortly.

Dates

• Closing date for entries: 15 June 2026
• Internal announcement of the longlist: October 2026
• Announcement of residency participants: December 2026
• Residency phase for the development of the new writing project: Spring 2027
• Long Night of New Drama with presentation of the sponsorship award: June 2027

Please ensure that all documents are compiled into a single PDF and named according to the format: Surname.FirstName.Application2027.pdf

Please send your documents by 15 June 2026 exclusively by email to foerderpreis.dramatik@muenchen.de.

Your questions

Write an Email to: dramaturgie.mk@kammerspiele.de