Who Killed My Father
"Merciless and moving portrait" - de Volkskrant ★★★★
Ivo van Hove adapted Who Killed My Father, by internationally acclaimed writer Édouard Louis, for the stage. Van Hove turned the very outspoken book into a monologue, especially for Hans Kesting.
Location Festival de Otoño, Madrid
Run time 85 minutes
Genre theatre
Language Dutch
Who Killed My Father
The anger-soaked Who Killed My Father is written in the form a letter to his father. Louis found his inspiration in a visit he paid to his father after not seeing him for some time, finding him almost unrecognizable. The man had become ill and aged prematurely, the result of a life marked by alcohol, social deprivation, hard work, and an industrial accident. Louis explains this to the elite, for whom politics is primarily an 'aesthetic issue': they engage in politics that has virtually no influence on their lives. The underclass, on the other hand, is devastated by cutbacks in benefits.
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According to the French weekly L'Opinion, the book is read in the Élysée - the official residence of the French president. Louis' diagnosis would align perfectly with Emmanuel Macron's. The writer himself sees it very differently. 'My book is against who you are and what you do', he tweeted to Macron. 'I write to disgrace you.'
Ivo van Hove on Who Killed My Father
"A gripping story about a father who at the age of fifty is a physical and mental wreck because of the hard work in the heavy industry of northern France. It is both a furious indictment of the political elite and a son's declaration of love to his father. Édouard Louis also writes about how, as a young homosexual, he was condemned to be an outcast by his own working-class family. With this cheeky, brilliant text I made a monologue for Hans Kesting."
IN THE PRESS
NRC
"Hans Kesting overwhelms in theatrical version Who Killed My Father."
De Volkskrant
"Merciless and moving portrait."
Ivo van Hove was director of Internationaal Theater Amsterdam from 2001 till 2023.
In season 23|24, his directing of The Damned, My Heavenly Favourite and Who Killed My Father will be reprised.
Credits
based on the book by Édouard Louis
translation, adaptation and direction Ivo van Hove
with Hans Kesting
stage design and light Jan Versweyveld
costumes An D'Huys
music George Dhauw
co-producer deSingel Antwerp
private producer Jeroen van Ingen and Jaap Kooijman, Bertil van Kaam
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assistant director Olivier Diepenhorst
scene design assistance Bart van Merode
production Inge Zeilinga, Edith den Hamer (head)
chief technician Reyer Meeter
technique Kevin Cuijvers, Bart Coenen, Zinzi Kemper, Manon van Nouland, Dennis van Scheppingen
costume workshop Farida Bouhbouh, Wim van Vliet (head)
photography Jan Versweyveld