Brandhaarden 2022: Édouard Louis

In an interview with De Volkskrant, Édouard Louis said: “In an environment where reading was considered a pointless and effeminate pastime, school trips to plays were the only way to get into contact with stories.” He now plays himself on the stage in Qui a tué mon père.

‘A serious political indictment while being a beautiful monument to his father at the same time.’ - De Volkskrant on the novel ★★★★

‘Intense, involving production’ – New York Times

In his novel History of Violence, Édouard Louis reconstructs the night of the main character’s rape and abuse. But the trauma of the rape extends far beyond that night. Louis weighs the incident against the violence in society. He shows how the violence committed from above, by governments and the police, trickles down to all sections of the population – and lands the hardest on those who are being discriminated against.

Can a life of humiliation explain how someone ends up a murderer? Valdens historie is an honest story about rape and the consequences for both victim and abuser. Valdens historie is the Norwegian adaptation by Det Norske Teatret/Kjersti Horn, of Louis' Histoire de la violence and can be seen in tandem with the German adaptation, Im Herzen der Gewalt, during Brandhaarden. Édouard Louis has been involved in the curation of the festival from the beginning and chose Valdens Historie as one of his favourite adaptations.

Édouard Louis gave Ivo van Hove an early opportunity to read his most recent work about his mother. Earlier this year, van Hove made Battles and Metamorphoses of a Woman with Marieke Heebink and Majd Mardo. This performance can be seen for the first time in ITA during Brandhaarden.

We get to know Édouard Louis during Brandhaarden not only through the stage adaptations of his novels. On 9 February, he will be at the centre of a special edition of Sign of the Times. Among other things, we will talk to him about his activism and about the poverty, racism and alcoholism he was confronted with during his youth, which would become the main subjects in his literary work.

©Arnaud Delrue

With a performative reading, Édouard Louis and Milo Rau (Brandhaarden 2019) present the theatrical text The Interrogation that they wrote together in spring 2021 (commissioned by Kunstenfestivaldesarts, IIPM & NTGENT). The reading is followed by a conversation between Louis and Rau on stage. The evening will end with the screening of a film by Milo Rau of Édouard Louis’ choice.

‘Beyond a doubt, the best play of the year’ - NRC Handelsblad

Édouard Louis took the world by storm with his successful autobiographical novel The End of Eddy. Without much frills but with ample dry wit, the novel tells the life story of a homosexual boy in an extremely homophobic environment. Director Eline Arbo made an acclaimed theatrical and musical adaptation of this novel, which can now be seen again under the auspices of Brandhaarden 2021.

Ivo van Hove adapted Who Killed My Father, by literary sensation Édouard Louis, for the stage. Van Hove turned the very outspoken book into a monologue, especially for Hans Kesting.

Ivo van Hove about Who Killed My Father: “It is a gripping story about a father who is reduced to a physical and mental wreck at the age of fifty after years of hard work in heavy industry in the north of France. It is just as much a furious indictment of the political elite as a declaration of love by a son to his father. Édouard Louis also writes about how he, as a young homosexual, was ostracized by his own working-class family. I will make a monologue for Hans Kesting from this brazen, brilliant text.”

'Merciless and moving portrait.' - de Volkskrant ★★★★

During Brandhaarden, our audience is welcome to join us in our Salon each day before the performance for a Dialogue on Art & Politics, inspired by the eponymous book featuring a conversation between Édouard Louis and Ken Loach. In this programme, artists, political figures, and 'ordinary people' reflect on social issues. As in Louis' work, in this programme, personal stories will be juxtaposed with major political systems. Let a conversation, performance, or speaker surprise you and feel free to join the dialogue.

Brandhaarden is an international theatre festival which brings plays by remarkable foreign dramatists to Amsterdam. The festival offers a unique overview of one maker, theatre, region, or theme. In previous editions, we put the spotlights on directors such as Katie Mitchell, Milo Rau, the Rimini Protokoll collective and city theatres such as the Münchner Kammerspiele, Volksbühne Berlin and the Peter Brooks Théâtre Bouffes du Nord. In 2020, the festival focussed on a region for the first time – Southern Europe – and showed notable dance and theatrical productions from Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece.