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De dingen die voorbijgaan

Toneelhuis, Ivo van Hove, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam

With his production of De stille kracht (The Hidden Force) in 2015 Ivo van Hove gave short shrift to the image Couperus had been stuck with since the 1970s. It was not a Hague costume drama and there was not so much as a hint of a cliché about Indonesia. What Van Hove did do is go straight to the core of this visionary novel, and that is the western culture that is irreconcilable with the eastern state.

Toneelhuis is joining forces with Van Hove to coproduce his second Couperus project, De dingen die voorbijgaan, based on the masterful psychological thriller Van oude mensen, de dingen die voorbijgaan (1906, Old People and the Things that Pass) about a family haunted by a mysterious murder committed long ago in the Dutch East Indies.

The 97-year-old grandmamma Ottilie still receives a daily visit from Takma, her former lover. The old people are consumed by remorse. Their long lives seem like a punishment. They have become a burden to themselves and to their children and grandchildren. As in De stille kracht, Couperus shows that he was way ahead of his time. He paints a portrait of a modern, incohesive family in which suspicion and envy rather than security prevail. Its members run away from each other and from the leaden burden that weighs them down. They live scattered between The Hague, London, Nice and the Dutch East Indies. 

Only a few manage to turn their back on the traumatic events of the past. Granddaughter Ottilie believes in free love and lives with a lover in the South of France. Her brother Lot is about to marry Elly, Takma’s granddaughter. Couperus' novel is not only the portrait of a dysfunctional family but also for its time a desperate plea for a life that refuses to be curtailed by bourgeois conventions.

After De stille kracht, this is the second part of Van Hove’s Couperus trilogy.

by

  • Louis Couperus

director

  • Ivo van Hove

with

  • Abke Haring
  • Aus Greidanus jr.
  • Bart Slegers
  • Celia Nufaar
  • Fred Goessens
  • Frieda Pittoors
  • Jip van den Dool
  • Hugo Koolschijn
  • Robert De Hoog
  • Maria Kraakman
  • Gijs Scholten van Aschat
  • Katelijne Damen
  • Janni Goslinga
  • Hans Kesting
  • Luca Savazzi

adaptation

  • Koen Tachelet

dramaturgy

  • Peter van Kraaij

lighting and set design

  • Jan Versweyveld

video

  • Theunis Zijlstra

music

  • Harry de Wit

costume design

  • An D'Huys

choreography

  • Koen Augustijnen

production

  • Toneelhuis
  • Internationaal Theater Amsterdam

coproduction

  • Ruhrtriënnale

with the support of

  • Ammodo

private producer

  • Marijke van Oordt
  • Rob van Oordt
  • Jeffrey Ong
  • Joost Houtman
  • Jaap Kooijman
  • Jeroen van Ingen

All data

  1. Saturday 13 April 2024 — 20h30 — ITA/Rabozaal, Amsterdam
  1. Friday 16 September 2016 — Ruhrtriënnale,Maschinenhalle, Gladbeck
  2. Saturday 17 September 2016 — Ruhrtriënnale,Maschinenhalle, Gladbeck
  3. Sunday 18 September 2016 — Ruhrtriënnale,Maschinenhalle, Gladbeck
  4. Friday 23 September 2016 — Ruhrtriënnale,Maschinenhalle, Gladbeck
  5. Saturday 24 September 2016 — Ruhrtriënnale,Maschinenhalle, Gladbeck
  6. Wednesday 19 October 2016 — 21h00 — Bourlaschouwburg, Antwerpen
  7. Thursday 20 October 2016 — 21h00 — Bourlaschouwburg, Antwerpen
  8. Friday 21 October 2016 — 21h00 — Bourlaschouwburg, Antwerpen
  9. Saturday 22 October 2016 — 21h00 — Bourlaschouwburg, Antwerpen
  10. Tuesday 25 October 2016 — 21h00 — Bourlaschouwburg, Antwerpen
  11. Wednesday 26 October 2016 — 21h00 — Bourlaschouwburg, Antwerpen
  12. Thursday 27 October 2016 — 21h00 — Bourlaschouwburg, Antwerpen
  13. Friday 28 October 2016 — 21h00 — Bourlaschouwburg, Antwerpen
  14. Thursday 8 December 2016 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  15. Friday 9 December 2016 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  16. Saturday 10 December 2016 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  17. Tuesday 13 December 2016 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  18. Wednesday 14 December 2016 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  19. Thursday 15 December 2016 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  20. Friday 16 December 2016 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  21. Saturday 17 December 2016 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  22. Tuesday 20 December 2016 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  23. Wednesday 21 December 2016 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  24. Thursday 22 December 2016 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  25. Wednesday 24 January 2018 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  26. Thursday 25 January 2018 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  27. Friday 26 January 2018 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  28. Saturday 27 January 2018 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  29. Tuesday 30 January 2018 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  30. Wednesday 31 January 2018 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  31. Thursday 1 February 2018 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  32. Friday 2 February 2018 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  33. Saturday 3 February 2018 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  34. Saturday 14 July 2018 — Cour du lycée Saint Joseph, Avignon
  35. Sunday 15 July 2018 — Cour du lycée Saint Joseph, Avignon
  36. Tuesday 17 July 2018 — Cour du lycée Saint Joseph, Avignon
  37. Wednesday 18 July 2018 — Cour du lycée Saint Joseph, Avignon
  38. Thursday 19 July 2018 — Cour du lycée Saint Joseph, Avignon
  39. Friday 20 July 2018 — Cour du lycée Saint Joseph, Avignon
  40. Saturday 21 July 2018 — Cour du lycée Saint Joseph, Avignon
  41. Friday 12 October 2018 — Baltic House Festival, Sint-Petersburg
  42. Saturday 13 October 2018 — Baltic House Festival, Sint-Petersburg
  43. Cancelled: Thursday 10 December 2020 — 20h00 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  44. Cancelled: Friday 11 December 2020 — 20h00 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  45. Cancelled: Saturday 12 December 2020 — 20h00 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  46. Cancelled: Tuesday 15 December 2020 — 20h00 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  47. Cancelled: Wednesday 16 December 2020 — 20h00 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  48. Cancelled: Thursday 17 December 2020 — 20h00 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  49. Cancelled: Friday 18 December 2020 — 20h00 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam
  50. Cancelled: Saturday 19 December 2020 — 20h00 — Grote zaal ITA, Amsterdam

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