Marie Schleef is a Berlin-based theater director whose work focuses on the unknown, the forgotten and the unseen.

© Luisa Ricar & Christoph Mateka, Are You Ready to Die?, Schauspielhaus Zürich, 2025

© Yuki Moriya, I Love Japan and Japan Loves Me, Villa Kamogawa, Goethe-Institut Kyoto, 2025

She studied Theatre and Performance at Bard College in New York, before going on to study directing at the “Ernst Busch” Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. She subsequently worked as an assistant director at the Volksbühne Berlin.

Her work has been performed at the Volksbühne Berlin, Ballhaus Ost, Kosmos Theater, Schauspiel Köln, Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg, Münchner Kammerspiele, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Burgtheater Wien, Schauspielhaus Zürich, and Schauspiel Essen. Her work has also been invited to Radikal Jung, Autor:innentheatertage, and Theatertreffen. Additionally, she was nominated for the Nestroy Theater Prize in the Best Director category. She has also won the Kurt Hübner Prize for emerging directors and the CHANEL Next Prize, which recognizes ten innovative artists worldwide.

© Judith Buss, Are You Ready to Die?, Schauspielhaus Zürich, 2025

© Tommy Hetzel, The Vegetarian, Burgtheater Wien, 2025

© Maximilian Borchardt, Er Putzt, Staatstheater Wiesbaden, 2025