Ivo Van Hove

Ivo van Hove has been director of Toneelgroep Amsterdam since 2001.

Ivo van Hove (b. 1958, Belgium) began his career as a theater director in 1981 with his own productions (“Germs,” “Rumours”). From 1990 to 2000, he was director of Het Zuidelijk Toneel. From 1998 to 2004, he managed the Holland Festival, annually presenting his selection of international theater, music, opera, and dance. Until 2010 he was one of the artistic leaders of the Dramatic Arts department in Antwerp.

Theater productions by Ivo van Hove have been performed all over the world from NY to Moscow, Paris, Buenos Aires, and Sydney. Recent international productions are “A View from the Bridge” at Young Vic/West End/Broadway and “The Crucible” on Broadway, “Lazarus” in New York and London, “The Damned” (Visconti) at La Comédie Française, “Vu du pont” at Théatre de l’Odéon, “Hedda Gabler” and “Network” at National Theatre, London. At Toneelgroep Amsterdam, van Hove directed, among others, “Angels in America,” “Roman Tragedies,” “Kings of War,” “Opening Night,” “Taming of the Shrew,” “Scenes from a Marriage,” “After the Rehearsal / Persona,” “The Human Voice,” “Othello,” “The Miser,” “Mourning Becomes Electra,” “The Fountainhead.”

He has also staged the musicals “Rent” and “Lazarus” by David Bowie and Enda Walsh, and operas such as “Lulu” (Alban Berg), the entire “Ring des Nibelungen,” Janáčeck’s “The Makropulos Affair” and Strauss’s “Salome” at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, “Brokeback Mountain” in Madrid (2014, world premiere), “Macbeth” at L’Opéra de Lyon (2013, 2018), “Boris Godunov” (2018) and “Don Giovanni” (2019) at L’Opéra de Paris.

“The Damned” was awarded with a Molière for best production. Other awards include two Olivier Awards and two Tony Awards for “A View from the Bridge”; Amsterdam Oeuvre Award together with Jan Versweyveld; two Obie Awards for “More Stately Mansions” and “Hedda Gabler”; the Archangel Award at the Edinburgh Festival; the Critic’s Circle Award in the Netherlands; an honorary doctorate for general merit from the University of Antwerp; the Flemish Culture Prize for Overall Cultural Merit from the Flemish Government. King Filip of Belgium awarded him Commander of the Order of the Crown. He is Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France.