Maren E. Bjørseth

Maren E. Bjørseth (1984, Norway) studied Directing at the Theaterschool Amsterdam and presented her own style with her thesis directing of A Doll’s House in 2012: a radical, playful and form-conscious reinterpretation of Ibsen’s classic. Immediately after, she directed the intriguing The Slope (Carl Frode Tiller), the rugged Ten Liefde (Ko van den Bosch), the cheerful yet macabre Faith Love Hope (Ödon von Horváth) and Ibsen’s The wild duck at Frascati Producties. She chooses plays about small people in an absurd and confusing world. She uses an absurd acting style and an abstract form that are just an inch away from realism. Bjørseth directs in her home country as well as in the Netherlands, because it provides her with the greatest possible freedom to ‘optimally explore the advantages of both theatrical cultures’.

In Norway, she directed e.g. La Ronde (Arthur Schnitzler), An enemy of the people (Henrik Ibsen) and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, which earned her a nomination for the Heddaprisen for best director. In October 2016, there will be the premiere of Agota Kristof’s The Notebook in Trondheim. Her directing of Hugo Claus’s A bride in the morning at TA-2 – Toneelgroep Amsterdam’s platform for the development of young directorial talent – was selected for the National Dutch Theatre Festival in 2015. ‘She delivers a spotless, slightly absurdist performance, in which the actors manage to let each and every one of Claus’s characters shine in all their hope and despair,’ according to the Nederlandse Toneeljury.

For the next four years, Bjørseth will be one of the permanent directors at Toneelschuur Producties, creating four performances, two of which in collaboration with TA-2/Toneelgroep Amsterdam. The first in the series - Emilia Galotti – will premiere in January 2017. The second one - A delicate balance - will premiere in March 2019.