Lea Draeger

Lea Draeger, born in Münster in 1980, is an actress, writer and visual artist. She studied acting at the University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig. After an engagement at Schauspielhaus Bochum, she was a member of the ensemble at Schaubühne Berlin from 2006 to 2011, where she worked with directors including Falk Richter, Thomas Ostermeier and Michael Thalheimer. In 2010, she received the Daphne Award.

From 2012, Lea Draeger worked at the Maxim Gorki Theater, where she was a member of the ensemble from 2015 to 2023. During this time, she worked with directors including Yael Ronen, Sebastian Baumgarten, Oliver Frljić, Falk Richter and Leonie Böhm.

Since 2015, she has been developing the series Ökonomische Päpste, which explores questions of power, bodies and systems of social order. Her visual art has been exhibited at institutions including the Van Abbemuseum, the Berliner Herbstsalon, the Friedrichshof Collection, NRW-Forum and Galerie Ebensperger. Her artist’s books have been published by Hybriden-Verlag. Her debut novel Wenn ich Euch verraten könnte was published by Hanser in 2022 and was shortlisted for the Text & Sprache Prize and the Buddenbrookhaus Prize.

Since the 2026/27 season, Lea Draeger has once again been a member of the ensemble at the Maxim Gorki Theater.