The plague is making its way through Thebes. The oracle says the city is doomed because the murder of King Laius has remained unpunished. His successor Oedipus wants to free the people, who suffer greatly, of this curse. He leads the investigation personally. This is not the first time for Oedipus. He previously solved the riddle of the sphinx. He is determined to leave no stone unturned. The outcome is devastating: to everyone’s great dismay – not in the least his own – Oedipus himself turns out to be the culprit

Sophocles’s most famous tragedy is the first story about crime and punishment. But just how guilty is Oedipus? He fled from his supposed parents when the oracle predicted he would kill his father and marry his mother. He killed Laius, whom he did not know, out of self-defense. Jocasta was offered to him for marriage after he freed Thebes from the sphinx. What is he to blame for? Oedipus did all he could to escape fate. The startling conclusion is that none of it has made a difference: the course of his life was predetermined and he will be punished no matter what.

Oedipus’s quest is full of surprising twists. This turns the story into a chilling thriller. It is impossible not to be affected while watching someone head towards his demise while being determined to discover the truth. Oedipus is much more than the story of a man who has looked but not seen. The age-old attraction will always be how recognizable his fate is: the vulnerability of existence. And the fact that it is nearly impossible to control our lives and fortune.

After The hidden force, Ivo van Hove made a second adaptation of a novel by Couperus: The things that pass, this time a coproduction with Toneelhuis (Antwerp).

Directing The hidden force, Ivo van Hove got rid of the image that had been stuck to Couperus since the 1970s. Not a costume drama in The Hague, no tempo dulu (the good old days). But he did get straight to the core of this visionary novel: the culture of the west, irreconcilable with that of the east.



The second project is based on the majestic psychological novel Old people and the things that pass (1906). Couperus imagined an ‘appalling and dreadful tragedy’. We see how a hushed-up murder of passion in the Dutch East Indies continues to have a devastating influence on the family of the elderly Ottilie and Takma. The hushing up of their adulterous relationship and the murder of Ottilie’s husband leave deep traces in the consecutive generations, who are trapped in an unresolved past.

Lot and Elly are the youngest members of this doomed family. They hope to be able to free themselves from the stranglehold of The Hague, but arrive back home disillusioned after their honeymoon in Italy. There is no escaping this family that is damaged by horrible secrets that should never become known.

Just like in The hidden force, Couperus shows that he is far ahead of his time. He paints the portrait of a modern family that does not cohere and is literally spread out to all the corners of the world. The family members struggle with their lustfulness, their faith, dreams of material happiness and mutual jealousy. A family where almost nobody dares to give in to their deepest wishes and desires, to be who they really are.

第二次世界大战初期，威尔弗里德·威尔斯刚刚成为安特卫普的一名警官。当时，镇上发生了针对犹太人的暴力事件，威尔虽然被教育要竭尽全力避免麻烦，但他还是去了警局报警。由于威尔的绘画天赋，他得到了一个名叫 "卑鄙的胡子 "亲纳粹者的支持。在利用这层关系的伪装帮助犹太人的同时，威尔结识了同事洛德的妹妹伊薇特，在反抗纳粹的行动中，二人迅速坠入爱河。纳粹对犹太人的种族灭绝日益逼近，为了活下去，威尔将会何去何从呢……

夏洛特在医院工作，精心挑选病人，然后在专门租用的公寓里与他们做爱。与各种各样的男人发生性关系——肥胖的、多毛的、年老的——帮助她体验在与 Max 的婚姻中缺乏的情感。但是丈夫发现了妻子的冒险经历，他们的家庭生活处于危险之中。然而，夫妻双方都在竭尽全力挽救婚姻。夏洛特被解雇后，他们决定搬到印度开始新的生活。但即使是双胞胎的诞生也不能让夏洛特对过去的思念有所缓解，那时她可以自由发挥她的激情和感情。

A wedding is planned in the 1930s on the Andalusian countryside. The marriage is loveless because it was arranged by the families for business reasons: the bride and groom hardly know each other.
A wedding is being planned on the Andalusian countryside in the 1930s. The marriage is loveless as it is arranged by the families for financial reasons: bride and groom hardly know each other. When the bride's former lover shows up on the day of the party, old feelings resurface. Driven by an indestructible love, the bride and her lover run off during the party. A savage manhunt is launched. The outcome is fatal.

Blood Wedding, by the Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca, was staged with the ITA Ensemble by internationally renowned Belgian choreographer and director Wim Vandekeybus, a regular guest in our dance programming. Known for his strong physical and theatrical dance language, he was previously responsible for the dance scenes in Ivo van Hove's Age of Rage at ITA. Music, video and film are an integral part of his theatrical expression. For Blood Wedding, Vandekeybus worked together with his son, film director Fernando Vandekeybus.

这是一个发生在十九世纪末的故事，丽兹与虔诚的丈夫伊莱（威廉·休斯顿饰）和两个孩子住在一间简朴的农舍，一家四口过着安逸而又平静的日子。然而好景不长，某天小村落里来了一位新的神父（盖·皮尔斯饰），这个面带伤疤、气场诡异的中年男子，引起了村里的聋哑助产士丽兹（达科塔·范宁饰）的警惕。原本平静的生活随着神父到来被打破，神父以上帝之名挑起那些曾在生产过程中失去过亲人的村民对丽兹的愤怒。而他到来的真正目的是为了惩罚丽兹的逃匿