4 + 1 – a meeting of young authors 2026

Every two years, Schauspiel Leipzig opens its doors to emerging dramatists and their works. In the context of 4+1, the stage in Leipzig revolves around hereto unheard texts, their authors and the methods of their production. Six renowned writing academies and literature courses are invited to send four students each to Leipzig with a text of their own creation. Previous participants include the Berlin University of the Arts’ course Creative Writing for the Stage, the Institute for Language Arts Vienna, the uniT DRAMA FORUM Graz, the German Institute for Literature Leipzig, the Swiss Literature Institute Biel and the Literature Institute of Hildesheim University.

In public readings featuring the ensemble of Schauspiel Leipzig, the audience is introduced to new voices from New Drama. Discussions following the readings provide an exciting opportunity to meet the creative newcomers and to discover a wide range of different styles and developments. Since 2013, this festival has seen itself as a platform for young authors, where they can test their own texts with a professional acting company and exchange ideas and experiences with other writers, a complete working theatre, and its audience. After all, this festival isn’t conceived as competition. We want to focus on being a workshop, on enabling encounters and testing new things. We are looking forward to 24 texts, their authors and three days of brand-New Drama!