Freek Mariën (1988) is a Belgian playwright and director, and co–artistic leader of the theater company Het Kwartier. He writes for both young audiences and adults, creating plays that combine rigorous language with socially engaged themes and unexpected theatrical forms. His award-winning work includes Waiting and Other Heroic Acts, which received the Toneelschrijfprijs, the most prestigious prize for Dutch-language theatre in Belgium and the Netherlands, and Vergiet and The Wetsuitman, recognized with the Dutch-German Kinder- und Jugenddramatiker*innenpreises. His plays are translated into German, French, English, and Finnish and performed across Europe and the United States.