Rieke Süßkow (GER)

Directors / Theater

born in Berlin in 1990, first studied theater, film and media in Vienna, then directing at the Theater Academy in Hamburg.

She has worked at the Berliner Ensemble, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Staatstheater Nürnberg and Burgtheater Wien, among others. Her productions have been invited to various German and international festivals, including Radikal Jung, Heidelberger Stückemarkt and the Prague Theater Festival for the German Language.

As a freelance director, Rieke Süßkow focuses on research into different forms of play and performance at the interface between acting, installation and choreography. She works closely with the directing team to develop overall compositions that function as living, breathing works of art.

AWARDS (selection)

2024 – Nestroy-Prize Nomination for ÜBERGEWICHT, UNWICHTIG: UNFORM (Best performance in the German-speaking world)
2024 – Invitation to Theatertreffen Berlin for ÜBERGEWICHT, UNWICHTIG: UNFORM

2023 – Best emerging director according to critics’ survey by “Theater heute” journal for OXYTOCIN, BABY
2023 – Invitation to Theatertreffen Berlin for ZWIEGESPRÄCH

2022 – Nestroy-Preis for OXYTOCIN, BABY (Best Young Female Talent)

2019 – Prize of FIAT – Festival for International Alternative Theatre Montenegro (Best Director for MEDEA)

Selcted productions (theater)

MACBETH. THE WITCHES´ GAME adapted from William Shakespeare

September 2026

Premiere: Volkstheater Vienna

Director: Rieke Süßkow
Stage Design: Mirjam Stängl
Costume Design: Sabrina Bosshard

Written around 1606, MACBETH intertwines historical events with supernatural elements, inner conflicts, and a glimpse into the depths of human depravity. Rieke Süßkow draws on elements of character and object theater to link Shakespeare’s dark work—which explores the fragility of civilizational facades and the psychological deformation caused by power—with the visual worlds and aesthetics of online gaming. Every twist in the power struggle affects Macbeth and his wife. And each of their actions changes the world. Until madness sets in.

BERNARDA ALBAS HAUS by Federico García Lorca

March 2026

Premiere: Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel (Cuvilliéstheater)

GESCHICHTEN AUS DEM WIENERWALD adapted from Ödön von Horváth and Johann Strauss

December 2025

Premiere: Volkstheater Vienna

EINES LANGEN TAGES REISE IN DIE NACHT - Instrumentalversion, free adapted from Eugene O’Neill

2024

Premiere: Staatstheater Nürnberg

ÜBERGEWICHT, UNWICHTIG: UNFORM by Werner Schwab

2023

Premiere: Staatstheater Nürnberg

Invitation to Theatertreffen Berlin 2024

ZWIEGESPRÄCH by Peter Handke

2022

World premiere: Burgtheater Wien

Invitation to Theatertreffen Berlin 2023

OXYTOCIN, BABY by Anna Neata

2022

Premiere: Schauspielhaus Wien