41. Heidelberger Stückemarkt

In the organizer's words:

For 10 days in spring, the Heidelberg Stückemarkt has been presenting the avant-garde of theater since 1984: new plays are read and outstanding world premieres from German-speaking countries are invited to guest performances. Social discourse is initiated and aesthetic trends in our theater landscape are reflected. The international highlight of the Heidelberg Play Market is the annually changing guest country - in 2024 it will be Georgia.

In addition to the guest performance program, the Heidelberg Play Market also hosts the highly acclaimed playwriting competition. Highly endowed prizes are awarded to young talents from German-speaking countries and the respective guest country. As part of the festival, the nominated plays are presented in readings with the Heidelberg Ensemble.

With the Nachspielpreis, productions that take a second look at plays that have already premiered are shown in the spirit of sustainable promotion of new drama. Young theater also has its own focus at the festival with the Youth Play Prize. The radio play prize, founded in 2021 in cooperation with SWR Kultur, enables the production and original broadcast of an award-winning text in the following year. Outstanding works of digital theater have also been presented since 2021.