Uwe Schmieder is an actor, director and a qualified commercial driver. After training as an actor in Leipzig he has played key roles at theatres in Rudolstadt, Greifswald, Berlin, Dortmund and Vienna. He was a co-founder of ORPHTHEATER Berlin and until 2010 ran the Notwendiger Neuer Untergrund (NNU) – constantly searching for new forms of expression. Schmieder has worked with Frank Castorf, Ersan Mondtag and Kay Voges, among others, has acted at the Berlin Theatertreffen and won the Best Actor Prize awarded by a jury of critics in Dortmund. However, for him theatre is more than just a profession: it is a necessity. A place where freedom can still be tested – in between failure, provocation and searching for what really counts today.