Marie Schleef
Performing arts

Marie Schleef is a theater director based in Berlin. She studied Theater and Performance at Bard College in New York and Theater Directing at Hochschule für Schauspiel Ernst Busch in Berlin.

Her first production after graduation, the long durational performance NAME HER. Auf der Suche nach den Frauen+ (Ballhaus Ost Berlin and Kosmos Theater Wien), was invited to the Theatertreffen 2021 in Berlin. This was followed by works at Schauspiel Köln, Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg, and Münchner Kammerspielen. In the 2024/25 season, Schleef will make her debut at Staatstheater Wiesbaden and Burgtheater Wien. In 2022, she received the Chanel Next Prize, which recognizes ten of the most innovative artists worldwide, as well as the Kurt-Hübner-Prize for Directing for her production of *Once I Lived with a Stranger* in Cologne. Her artistic interest centers on texts and narratives by women who have yet to find resonance and recognition in the German-speaking region.

In Japan, she will explore the theme of loneliness and examine technologies developed to combat it. Under the title I Love Japan and Japan Loves Me, Schleef will live with a cuddle robot during her residency.