In 2023, the Ministry of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate will for the first time award the CARL ZUCKMAYER SCHOLARSHIP to promote contemporary European drama and the memory of the political German playwright Carl Zuckmayer.

The scholarship is addressed to playwrights living in Europe who have already written at least one theatre play that has been staged already. The working scholarship is intended to enable them to write a play on a socially relevant, European topic with financial security. A jury of five decides on the award of the scholarship.

The resulting works should be in the tradition of Zuckmayer's cosmopolitan spirit and shed new light on his thematic fields, such as homeland, exile, resistance, and the genre of the critical folk play in a European present.

The Staatstheater Mainz, which frequently collaborates with playwrights for world premieres, will organize the tendering process and accompany the playwrights in their development. The theatre festival PLUG&PLAY at the Staatstheater Mainz, with its focus on young directors, sees itself as a lively working forum, meeting place, and open space for exchange about contemporary theatre. It thus provides the ideal setting for the annual public awarding of the scholarship as well as a reading of the previous year's play within the festival program. The first awarding of the Carl Zuckmayer Scholarship will take place on 09 May 2024 at the opening of the PLUG&PLAY Festival.

The CARL ZUCKMAYER SCHOLARSHIP includes:

-10,000 EURO grant

-Supervision by the dramaturgy of the Staatstheater Mainz

-Assumption of the costs for travel and accommodation for a maximum of three stays in Mainz (by arrangement)

-Option of the world premiere of the play at the Staatstheater Mainz.

Deliverables:

-During the scholarship year (May 2023-May 2024), a new play must be written exclusively (no adaptation of a novel, film or similar).

-The play should deal with Zuckmayer's thematic areas (keywords: Europe, homeland, exile, resistance).

-Obligation to be present at the official awarding of the scholarship in May 2024 and at the reading of the play at the PLUG&PLAY Festival 2025 in Mainz.

Application papers:

-concept (2-3 pages) about the play to be written.

-current curriculum vitae with contact details

-complete text of a play already published and performed by the applicant with proof (review or similar)

-all submissions must be sent exclusively by e-mail in German or English to: kgreuel@staatstheatermainz.de

Authors who are already in working contact with the Staatstheater Mainz are excluded.

Application deadline: 30 November 20023