Verena Ries was born in Munich in 1978. She works as a freelance director and theatre pedagogue in many establishments, including the Junges DT Berlin, the Junges Schauspiel Hannover, Junges Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf , Theater an der Parkaue Berlin and Back to Back Theatre, Australia.
In collaboration with different artists, she pursues her interest in intervening in (his)stories and places to open up new perspectives on reality. She lives in Neukölln, Berlin with her two children and the inventor and sound artist Georg Werner.
In 2015, Ries graduated from a “Mediation - Professional Conflict Resolution” course at the Alice Salomon Hochschule, Berlin and qualified according to certified standards set by the German mediation bodies Bundesverbands Mediation (BM) and the Bundes-Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Familien-Mediation e.V. (BAFM)
In 2014/15, Ries taught “Reenactment as an artistic strategy” at the Theater der Welt theatre festival (Mannheim) and politics at the Freies Theater (Freiburg) and the Kammercampus 1 (Münchner Kammerspiele)
Since 2013, she has been an arts consultant for the “Abenteuer Kultur” training programme at dm-drogerie markt
From 2010 to 2013, she taught at IPK, HBK Braunschweig (Institut für Performative Künste)
Since 2007, she has been a freelance director and theatre pedagogue in various contexts, including at Deutsches Theater Berlin, Junges Schauspielhaus Hannover, Junges Schauspiel Düsseldorf, Theater an der Parkaue Berlin, Podewil Berlin and "Abenteuer Kultur" dm-drogerie Markt
2006 and 2007 Project assistant at Raumlabor Berlin / Peanutz Architekten at HAU, Theater Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin
1998 - 2005 Applied Cultural Studies and Aesthetic Practice studies at Universität Hildesheim und Devising Theatre, Dartington (GB/UK) Studies