Alize Zandwijk
Alize Zandwijk is a Dutch director. She studied at the Academy for Expression by Word and Gesture in Kampen. In 1997, Zandwijk won The Proscenium Prize, one of the VSCD Awards.
From 2006 to 2016, she was artistic leader of the Ro Theater. During this period, she was responsible for the company's artistic policy together with Guy Cassiers. She continued her career at Theater Bremen as Oberspielleier, for which she received the Kurt-Hubner-Preis in 2020.
In season 23|24 her direction of Birds of a kind will be reprised.
Alize Zandwijk has been artistic leader of the Ro Theater since August 2006. In the period before, Zandwijk made the artistic policy of the company together with Guy Cassiers, a period in which the company achieved success with Cassiers' Proust cycle and with Zandwijk's international work. In the period of Cassiers/Zandwijk, the company mainly brought the repertoire of Chekhov (Platonov) and Shakespeare (Richard III) up to a book adaptation like Bernlef's Hersenschimmen.
In the last part of the previous Culture Plan period, Zandwijk introduced important new repertoire in the Netherlands. She directed Onschuld by Dea Loher, one of the most important contemporary German authors, and with the Flemish Arne Sierens she created a modern Chekhov, Meiskes en Jongens. After Cassiers' departure, Carel Alons became intendant for the transitional period, and the artistic leadership came in the hands of Alize Zandwijk. She made two major changes: she rebuilt the ensemble and made the intention of the Ro Theater to be rooted in the city a priority in the company's policy.
-|-In 1997 Zandwijk won The Proscenium Prize, one of the VSCD awards. Her work can often be summarised as anti-elitist, raw and committed, with many things happening simultaneously and intertwined. She shows compassion for the underside of society, which she portrays with humour and fantasy. In her policy for RO Theater, she focuses on anchoring the company in Rotterdam, working with international partners and working with young directors.
On 24 June 2016, Alize Zandwijk said goodbye to the Ro Theater as director and artistic director after 18 years. In honour of her farewell, an overview book of her work was published, Alize Zandwijk - 18 years of Ro Theater 1998 - 2016. This book covers the entire period and the 38 performances she created with this Rotterdam company, such as Nachtasiel, Dood van een Handelsreiziger, Branden, Onschuld and Moeders. She continues her career at the Theater Bremen as Oberspielleier, for which she received the Kurt-Hubner-Preis in 2020.