Denise Heschl

Denise was born in Graz in 1985. She studied dentistry until 2008 and from 2010 to 2014, she was a student of stage and costume design under the direction of Hans Schavernoch at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz.

In 2011, she gained her first experience as a stage design assistant at Schauspielhaus Graz (“Incendies,” “The Crucible,” and “Ghosts in Princeton,” directed by Anna Badora). In 2012, she was responsible for the costume and stage design for the production X-Friends (directed by Judith Wille) at the same venue, as well as for the costume design in Rechnitz (The Exterminating Angel), Still Storm, and Salome, directed by Michael Simon.

Furthermore, she has collaborated with Elina Finkel, Anna Badora, Helge Stradner (Patrick’s Trick, Stella Award winner 2017), Georg Schütky, Caroline Ghanipour, and Kristo Sagor.

Since 2014, she has also been responsible for various stage and costume design works in collaboration with director Nikolaus Habjan. Together, they created the Nestroy Award-nominated play The Misunderstanding.

Her work has taken her to Schauspielhaus Graz, Theater Kanton Zürich, Next Liberty Graz, Volkstheater Wien, Bavarian State Opera, Residenztheater Munich, Schauspielhaus Zürich, and Theater an der Wien, as well as to the Dortmund Opera, Schauspiel Stuttgart, Theater Basel, and Cleveland, Ohio.

Denise also works as a designer for various reenactment documentaries and short films and teaches at the University of the Arts Graz and the University of Teacher Education in Graz.