Marie Schwesinger

Marie Schwesinger studied scenic arts in Hildesheim and theatre directing in Frankfurt. After graduating, she worked as an assistant director at Schauspiel Frankfurt, where she realised her play text "Gegen alle Widerstände" ("Against All Odds") on the subject of the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials in 2018. With this directorial work, she was invited to Hamburg's Thalia Theatre and the theatres in Bielefeld and Kiel as part of the Körber Studio Junge Regie 2021 festival. Marie Schwesinger works as a director and author. Her plays and productions are shown at municipal and state theatres (including in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Gießen, Marburg, Bielefeld, Kiel and Weimar), and she also develops interdisciplinary formats in Frankfurt's independent theatre scene. Her thematic focus is on contemporary political and documentary material. In 2022, she was awarded the Ottilie Roederstein Scholarship for Young Artists by the State of Hesse and has been conducting artistic research on right-wing extremism ever since. In addition to historical research, she has been observing trials against right-wing extremist defendants at Frankfurt Higher Regional Court for several years. Together with her team and the Kunstfest Weimar, she developed the "Werwolfkommandos" project in 2022, which dealt with the murder of CDU politician Walter Lübcke, among other things. The play "Werwolfkommandos" was awarded the Audience Award at the Hessian Theatre Days in 2024. Her research piece "Innere Sicherheit" (Internal Security) deals with the NSU 2.0 threat mail series. In addition to theatre, Marie Schwesinger developed the feature podcast "Rechtsextreme vor Gericht" (Right-wing extremists in court) for Deutschlandfunk Kultur as a journalist in 2024. In the 2025/2026 season, Marie Schwesinger is a scholarship holder as part of the international programme for young directors WORX at the Berliner Ensemble. Her play "Sturm auf Berlin" will deal with the court case against the Reichsbürger group Reuß, which Marie Schwesinger is currently accompanying as a journalist in Frankfurt.