Isabella Sedlak (1981) is a director, playwright, and author based in Berlin and Vienna. Her artistic practice straddles the boundaries of theatre, film, and performance. In her work, she reflects on the transformations of social structures, explores issues of gender, power relations, and historical narratives. Her productions are always the collective work of the entire creative team and oscillate between installation, performance, and classical theatre. She studied theatre, film, and media, as well as economics and social sciences, in Vienna and Southampton.
She has collaborated with Schauspiel Dortmund, ITZ Tübingen, Theatre Drachengasse, and Werk X-Petersplatz. She founded the independent collective Bauer+Baum. She also applies a feminist and intersectional perspective in her screenwriting and essays. She has received numerous awards for her innovative theatrical work.
The monodrama Between the River and the Sea is her fourth production at the Maxim Gorki Theatre and her second collaboration with actor Yousef Sweid. She also cast him in the production From Hell With Love (2020), in which she explored the character of Mephistopheles. She returned to this ‘devilish’ subject at MGT in the production Krampus: Pelz Und Puderzucker (Krampus: Fur and Powdered Sugar, 2021), in which she explored the Alpine tradition of Krampus – a phenomenon that is gaining popularity throughout Europe, including the Czech Republic.