Ivo van Hove

Ivo van Hove
Born	(1958-10-28)28 October 1958 Heist op den Berg, Belgium
Occupation	Artistic director
Nationality	Belgian

Ivo van Hove (born 28 October 1958 in Heist-op-den-Berg) is a Belgian theatre director known as the artistic director of Toneelgroep Amsterdam in the Netherlands and for his Off-Broadway avant garde experimental theatre productions.

Career

Van Hove began his career as a stage director in 1981, working with plays he had written himself such as Ziektekiemen (Germs) and Geruchten (Rumors). He was artistic manager at AKT, Akt-Vertical and then De Tijd. Between 1990 and 2000 he worked as the director of Het Zuidelijk Toneel. Since 2001, van Hove has been general director of Toneelgroep Amsterdam (the Amsterdam Theatre Group). He has coordinated productions at the Edinburgh International Festival, the Venice Biennale, the Holland Festival, Theater der Welt, and the Wiener Festwochen. He has directed companies from Hamburg's Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Staatstheater Stuttgart, directed Hedda Gabler, The Little Foxes and Scenes from a Marriage at the New York Theatre Workshop and the award-winning A View from the Bridge at the Young Vic.

Apart from the theatre, van Hove directed Thuisfront for Dutch television; his first cinematic film, Amsterdam, came out in 2009. Van Hove directed the musical Rent for Joop van den Ende. At the Vlaamse Opera, he staged a production of Alban Berg's opera Lulu, as well as the complete "Ring Cycle" by Richard Wagner (2006–08). He put on a production of Janáček's De Zaak Makropoulos, and Tchaikovsky's Iolanta for the De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam. From 1998–2004, van Hove was festival manager of the Holland Festival, where he presented an annual selection of international theatre, music, opera and dance.

Since 2001, he has been the general director of Toneelgroep Amsterdam, the prime theatre company of The Netherlands and the official municipal theatre company of Amsterdam. Van Hove’s international focus explains why the company has been invited by international festivals such as RuhrTriennale, Wiener Festwochen, the Edinburgh Festival and Festival d'Avignon, and performs in The United States, Russia and Australia, and why well-known directors such as Christoph Marthaler, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Johan Simons, Thomas Ostermeier, Luk Perceval, Simon Stone and Katie Mitchell have joined the troupe as guest directors. For Toneelgroep Amsterdam Van Hove has directed Angels in America by Tony Kushner, the marathon performance Roman Tragedies (based on Shakespearean works), Opening Night by John Cassavetes, Rocco and his brothers by Luchino Visconti, and Teorema (based on the work of Pier Paolo Pasolini, in partnership with the Ruhrtriennale), Antonioni-project in tribute to Michelangelo Antonioni, La voix humaine (The Human Voice) by Jean Cocteau, Summer Trilogy in tribute to Carlo Goldoni, Children of the Sun by Maxim Gorky, The Miser by Molière, Scenes from a Marriage, Cries and Whispers and After the Rehearsal / Persona by Ingmar Bergman, And We'll Never Be Parted by Jon Fosse, The Russians! by Tom Lanoye, based on Chekhov, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, Mary Stuart by Friedrich Schiller, Kings of War (based on Henry V, Henry IV, Part 2, Henry VI, and Richard III by William Shakespeare), The Hidden Force by Louis Couperus and The Other Voice by Ramsey Nasr.

Honours

2016 : Commander in the Order of the Crown.

Awards

Van Hove won two Obie Awards for Best Production of an off-Broadway production in New York (for More Stately Mansions and Hedda Gabler, respectively), as well as the East Flanders Oeuvre Prize (1995), the Theatre Festival Prize (1996), and the Archangel Award at the Edinburgh Festival (1999).

He was made a Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France in 2004. In 2007 he received the Prijs van de Kritiek in the Netherlands, a prize awarded by theatre critics. In 2008, he received the Prosceniumprijs, a Dutch theatre prize, together with Jan Versweyveld and in 2012 the Amsterdam Business Oeuvre Award. In 2014, van Hove received an honorary doctorate for general merit of the University of Antwerp.

In 2015, he won a Best Director Laurence Olivier Award for A View From the Bridge at the Young Vic and Wyndham's Theatre in London and the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Director. Van Hove also won the Amsterdam Award for the Arts 2015, with Jan Versweyveld.

In 2016 Van Hove received The Founders Award for Excellence in Directing and became Honorary Citizen of Ham, Belgium. A View from the Bridge at the Lyceum Theatre was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Best Revival and Best Director and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Director and Best Revival, and won the Tony Award for Best Director and Best Revival. The Crucible at the Walter Kerr Theatre was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Revival and the Tony Award for Best Revival. Vu du Pont at Théâtre de l'Odéon was nominated for Molières for Best Director and Best Revival.

Personal life

Van Hove is openly gay. His longtime partner has been set designer Jan Versweyveld since circa 1980.

International productions

2016

• The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway
• Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, Royal National Theatre, London

2015

• Lazarus by David Bowie and Enda Walsh, New York Theatre Workshop; 2016 at Kings Cross Theatre

2014

• Antigone by Sophocles (Barbican, Les théâtres de la ville de Luxembourg and Toneelgroep Amsterdam)
• A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller at the Young Vic; 2016 at the Lyceum Theatre (Broadway)
• Scenes from a Marriage by Ingmar Bergman at the New York Theatre Workshop

2013

• Seltsames Intermezzo by Eugene O'Neill at the Münchner Kammerspiele

2011

• Edward 2 by Christopher Marlowe at Schaubühne Berlin
• Ludwig II by Luchino Visconti at the Münchner Kammerspiele

2010

• The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman at the New York Theatre Workshop
• Der Menschenfeind by Molière at Schaubühne Berlin

2008

• Kameliendame by Alexandre Dumas, fils; coproduction TA / Schauspielhaus Hamburg

2007

• The Misanthrope by Molière at the New York Theatre Workshop

2006

• Der Geizige by Molière at Schauspielhaus Hamburg

2005

• Faces by John Cassavetes at Theater der Welt; co-production with Schauspielhaus Hamburg and Staatstheater Stuttgart

2004

• Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen at the New York Theatre Workshop

2000

• Alice in Bed by Susan Sontag at the New York Theatre Workshop (co-production with Zuidelijk Toneel and Holland Festival)

1998

• A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams at the New York Theatre Workshop

1996

• More Stately Mansions by Eugene O'Neill at the New York Theatre Workshop

1995

• Gier unter Ulmen (Desire Under the Elms) by Eugene O'Neill at Staatstheater Stuttgart

1993

• Die Bakchen (The Bacchae) by Euripides at Schauspielhaus Hamburg

Productions in Belgium and the Netherlands

Toneelgroep Amsterdam

2016–2017

• The Things that Pass by Louis Couperus
• Obsession after Luchino Visconti
• Diary of the One who Disappeared by Leoš Janáček

2015–2016

• The Other Voice by Ramsey Nasr
• The Hidden Force by Louis Couperus

2014–2015

• Kings of War by William Shakespeare; 2016 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City
• Mary Stuart by Friedrich Schiller
• Song from Far Away by Simon Stephens

2013–2014

• The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
• Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill

2012–2013

• After the rehearsal by Ingmar Bergman
• Persona by Ingmar Bergman

2011–2012

• The Miser by Molière
• Husbands by John Cassavetes

2010–2011

• Children of the Sun by Maxim Gorky
• And We'll Never Be Parted by Jon Fosse
• The Russians! by Tom Lanoye

2009–2010

• Teorema by Pier Paolo Pasolini
• Summer Trilogy by Carlo Goldoni

2008–2009

• Antonioni Project after Michelangelo Antonioni
• The human voice by Jean Cocteau

2007–2008

• Angels in America by Tony Kushner

2006–2007

• Roman Tragedies by William Shakespeare

2005–2006

• Perfect Wedding by Charles Mee
• Opening night by John Cassavetes
• Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen

2004–2005

• The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
• Scenes From a Marriage by Ingmar Bergman

2003–2004

• The Norman Conquests by Alan Ayckbourn (co-production with Holland Festival)
• Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill

2002–2003

• Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov
• Othello by William Shakespeare
• Carmen by Oscar van Woensel after Prosper Mérimée and Georges Bizet

2001–2002

• Con Amore by Jef Aerts after L'incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi

2000–2001

• True Love by Charles Mee (co-production with Holland Festival)
• The Massacre at Paris by Hafid Bouazza after Christopher Marlowe

Zuidelijk Toneel

1999–2000

• Alice in Bed by Susan Sontag (co-production with New York Theatre Workshop and Holland Festival)
• De dame met de camelia's (La Dame aux camélias) by Alexandre Dumas

1998–1999

• India Song by Marguerite Duras (co-production with Holland Festival)

1997–1998

• Romeo en Julia (studie van een verdrinkend lichaam) (Romeo and Juliet: A study of a drowning body) by Peter Verhelst after Shakespeare (co-production with Holland Festival)

1996–1997

• Koppen (Faces) by John Cassavetes (co-production with Holland Festival)
• De onbeminden (Les Mal Aimés) by François Mauriac

1995–1996

• Caligula by Albert Camus

1994–1995

• De tramlijn die Verlangen heet (A Streetcar Named Desire) by Tennessee Williams
• Splendid's by Jean Genet

1993–1994

• Rijkemanshuis (More Stately Mansions) by Eugene O'Neill (co-production with Holland Festival)

1992–1993

• Hamlet by William Shakespeare (co-production with Antwerp European Cultural Capital 1993)
• Gered (Saved) by Edward Bond

1991–1992

• Het Begeren onder de Olmen (Desire Under the Elms) by Eugene O'Neill
• Toch zonde van die hoer ('Tis Pity She's a Whore) by John Ford

1990–1991

• Ajax/Antigone by Sophocles
• Het Zuiden (South) by Julien Green

1988–1989

• Rouw siert Electra (Mourning Becomes Electra) by Eugene O'Neill

Theater van het Oosten

1989–1990

• Richard II by William Shakespeare

De Tijd

1989–1990

• Jakow Bogomolow by Maxim Gorky
• Lulu by Frank Wedekind (co-production with Toneelgroep Amsterdam)

1988–1989

• Don Carlos by Friedrich von Schiller

1987–1988

• In de eenzaamheid van de katoenvelden (Dans la solitude des champs de coton) by Bernard-Marie Koltès
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Akt/Vertikaal

1986–1987

• Bacchanten (The Bacchae) by Euripides

1985–1986

• Russische Openbaring (Russian Gambit) by Heiner Müller
• ImitatieS (ImitationS) (group project)

1984–1985

• India Song by Marguerite Duras
• Wonderen der mensheid (Miracles of Humanity) (group project)
• Wilde heren (Wild Men) (group project)

Vertikaal

1982–1983

• De Lijfknecht (The Servant) by Harold Pinter

Akt

1983–1984

• Marokko (Morocco) by Botho Strauss
• Agatha by Marguerite Duras

1982–1983

• Als in de oorlog (Like in the War) by Sophocles/Gie Laenen (as part of Europalia)

1981–1982

• Ziektekiemen (Germs) by Ivo van Hove
• Geruchten (Rumours) by Ivo van Hove

Opera productions

• 1999: Lulu by Alban Berg (after Frank Wedekind), Flemish Opera, Antwerp
• 2002: The Makropulos Case by Leoš Janáček, De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam
• 2004: Iolanta by Tchaikovsky, De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam
• 2006–2008: Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner, Flemish Opera, Antwerp
• 2010: Idomeneo, re di Creta by Mozart, De Munt Opera, Brussels
• 2012: Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi, Opéra National de Lyon
• 2012: Der Schatzgräber by Franz Schreker, De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam
• 2013: La clemenza di Tito by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, De Munt Opera, Brussels
• 2013: Mazeppa by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Komische Oper Berlin
• 2014: Brokeback Mountain, libretto by Annie Proulx, music by Charles Wuorinen, Teatro Real, Madrid

Musical

• 2000: Rent by Jonathan Larson with Joop van den Ende Theatre Productions
• 2015: Lazarus by David Bowie and Enda Walsh with New York Theatre Workshop

Film/television

1997: Thuisfront (Home Front) (NPS) by Peter van Kraaij (co-production with Zuidelijk Toneel) 2008: Amsterdam by Jeroen Planting

Other awards

• 1987: Oscar de Gruyter Prize for Best Direction (for Macbeth)
• 1994: Publieks (Audience) Prize for Rijkemanshuis
• 1996: Theatre Festival Prize for Caligula
• 1998: Herald Angel at the Edinburgh Festival, for More Stately Mansions
• 1999: Johan Fleerackers Prize for collaboration between Dutch and Flemish theatre; Arch Angel for best direction at the Edinburgh Festival, for India Song

External links

• Ivo van Hove at Toneelgroep Amsterdam
• Internet Broadway database Listing
• Broadway Productions at Playbillvault
• Internet Off-Broadway database Listing