A dozen texts will be shortlisted for their literary and dramaturgical qualities and their originality, before being submitted to the final vote of the jury in September. 

To enter, authors must be aged between 18 and 46, and be from or based in a country in Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean (excluding French overseas departments and territories), the Near East or the Middle East. 

The Prize is also open to foreigners from these regions who have been resident in France for less than 4 years and hold a residence permit or political refugee status. Their texts must be original, unpublished in France and written in French. 

The aim of the Prize is to promote the wealth of contemporary French-language dramatic writing from the South and to encourage the career development of young authors writing in French. 

RFI and its partners are offering the winner professional support and media exposure through : a residency at the Villa Saint Louis Ndar, launched in 2019 by the Institut français du Sénégal; a residency for stage creation on the winning text at the Centre Dramatique National de Normandie-Rouen; a financial endowment awarded by SACD; the organisation and funding by the Institut français of a writing residency at the Maison des Auteurs in Limoges and in Paris with Théâtre Ouvert; promotion of the text and airplay on RFI, as well as a public reading during the "Ça va, ça va le monde! "cycle, organised as part of the Avignon Festival. 

In 2023, Eric Delphin Kwegoué (Cameroon) won the award with A coeur ouvert. He followed in the footsteps of Gaëlle Bien-Aimé, Jean D'Amérique, Souleymane Bah, Valérie Cachard and Sedjro Giovanni. 

Authors have until midnight on 27 April to send their texts to prix.theatre@rfi.fr. For more information, click here.  

The "Prix Théâtre RFI" will be awarded on 29 September in Limoges as part of the festival Les Zébrures d'automne organised by "Les Francophonies - Des écritures à la scène". 

This partnership is part of the new framework agreement, signed on 9 April 2024, between the Institut français and France Médias Monde.