With ITALive, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam get in on the livestreaming game with their productions of Medea, Wie heeft mijn vader vermoord (Who killed my father) and De stille kracht (The hidden force)
In the grand scheme of things, missing out on my regular trips to Amsterdam this year isn’t that big of a deal though it still makes me sad to think of the friends I haven’t seen, the theatre I’ve missed, all the bitterballen I’ve not eaten…
But Internationaal Theater Amsterdam are going some way to rectify that by launching ITALive (and for the long term too, not just for the pandemic) as a way of extending the reach of their work. Selected shows from their repertoire are being livestreamed from the magnificent Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam starting with Simon Stone’s exquisitely heart-wrenching take on Medea starring the incomparable Marieke Heebink.
ITALive programme – all shows surtitled in English
Friday 30th October
Medea
Friday 6th November
Who Killed My Father
Thursday 26th November
The Hidden Force
Medea
For 24 centuries, writers and theatre makers have been telling the story of royal daughter Medea who is rejected by her husband and then kills her children. Is Medea the most popular of all Greek tragedies? At the very least, she is the most terrifying. Simon Stone mixes Euripides’ play with the true history of Debora Green, an American woman who killed her children in the 1990s.
Marieke Heebink won the Theo d’Or for her performance of the role of Medea. The performance was selected for the Dutch Theatre Festival in 2015.
Who Killed My Father
Ivo van Hove adapted Who Killed My Father, by literary sensation Édouard Louis, for the stage. Van Hove turned the very outspoken book into a monologue, especially for Hans Kesting.
The hidden force
The hidden force is a compelling story about the misunderstandings and incomprehension between cultures, as well as between close family members. The demise of Otto van Oudijck makes us painfully aware of the impossibility of fully comprehending the other.
The hidden force takes place in the Dutch East Indies, but tells a story that is universal. At the heart of the story is the tense relationship between two cultures, which are irreconcilable. The silent force is generally regarded as a poetic and mental force. It is, but above all it is a force with a devastating effect.