Marie Schleef: The Gap as a Source of Inspiration: Toward a Feminist Theater Practice
Talks on Curatorial Practice
30 OCTOBER 2026 / 17:00
In this lecture, theatre director Marie Schleef will offer a very personal insight into her artistic practice, discussing how exploring the unknown, the forgotten and the unseen has become a driving force in her work.
Based on examples from her theatrical and non-theatrical projects she will explain and illustrate how she managed to transform the concept of the gap — supposedly an empty and void space — into a vessel of inspiration and a pool of imagination, providing a foundation for her feminist theatre approach. Furthermore, she will also contextualize and offer a broader understanding of the German theater world and its underlying system, taking us on a journey of how she found her voice and place within it.
Marie Schleef is a Berlin-based German, French and Italian theater director whose work focuses on the unknown, the forgotten, and the unseen. She is particularly interested in staging texts (by women) that have never been performed on stage.
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.
Free admission.
All talks in English.
All times CET/CEST.
On-site participation without registration. Application for online participation: curating.org