Munich Prize for New Drama

Course description

Every two years since 2009, the Münchner Kammerspiele, together with Drei Masken Verlag and the City of Munich, has awarded the Münchner Förderpreis für neue Dramatik. With an endowment of 20,000 euros, the prize, which has been renamed the International Edith and Werner Rieder Prize for New Drama since 2025, is one of the most highly endowed author prizes in the German-speaking theatre world.

The prize is aimed at authors at the beginning of their theatre career who do not yet have a publisher.

Procedure Before the International Edith and Werner Rieder Prize for New Playwriting is awarded, a jury nominates up to five authors from among the applicants who are invited to Munich for an author residency. This residency serves to develop a new writing project in exchange with the Kammerspiele and ends with the award ceremony as part of the Long Night of New Drama in June 2027 at the Kammerspiele, where the Munich Kammerspiele will present the completed plays nominated for the prize as part of workshop productions at the Long Night of New Drama and plan to present the play on which the prizewinner worked during the residency in the Werkraum in the following season.

Prize money / options The prize money for the International Edith and Werner Rieder Prize for New Drama is 20,000 euros. In addition, the Residenz will be endowed with 3,500 euros per author or nominated collective. The Münchner Kammerspiele will receive a time-limited première option on all plays nominated for the prize. In addition, the candidates nominated for the prize will be provided with accommodation in Munich and Drei Masken Verlag will offer the prizewinners membership of the publishing house. The award ceremony is planned for June 2027 at the Long Night of New Drama as part of the programme focus "Neue Zeit, Neue Dramatik" at the Münchner Kammerspiele.

Deadline

• Closing date for submissions: 15 June 2026
• Internal announcement of the longlist: October 2026
• Announcement of the residency participants: December 2026
• Residency phase to develop the new writing project: Spring 2027
• Long Night of New Playwriting with awarding of the prize: June 2027

Prerequisites

The prize is aimed at artists at the beginning of their career who have had no more than two works performed in the theatre and who are not yet represented by a theatre publisher in German-speaking countries.

Required documents

Applications must include the following documents:

• 10 to 15 pages of exemplary excerpts from a completed text that has not yet been premièred
• 1 synopsis (maximum one A4 page) for this completed text
• an exposé (maximum three A4 pages) for a second writing project to be developed as part of a residency in collaboration with the Münchner Kammerspiele
• a curriculum vitae in tabular form with contact details

The above documents must be submitted either in German or in an English translation. Only one completed work and two synopses may be submitted per author, which must be sent together in one PDF file to foerderpreis.dramatik@muenchen.de. In order to promote as many different perspectives as possible, we would like to encourage people with a history of migration to apply for the International Edith and Werner Rieder Prize for New Drama. please send all documents together in one PDF and name them according to the pattern last name.firstname.application2027.pdf Please send your documents by 15.06.2026 exclusively by e-mail to foerderpreis.dramatik@muenchen.de.

Legal basis

The jury is made up of representatives of the Cultural Department of the City of Munich, the Münchner Kammerspiele, Drei Masken Verlag and external experts.