Alize Zandwijk
Alize Zandwijk is a Dutch director. She trained at the Academie voor Expressie door Woord en Gebaar in Kampen. In 1997 Zandwijk won the Prosceniumprijs, one of the VSCD awards.
From 2006 to 2016 she was artistic director of the Ro Theater, where she shared responsibility for the company's artistic policy with Guy Cassiers. She went on to Theater Bremen as Oberspielleier, for which she received the Kurt-Hubner-Preis in 2020.
She previously directed Birds of a Kinds at ITA. In the 2026/27 season she directs the company in Richard.
CV
Alize Zandwijk was artistic director of the Ro Theater from August 2006. Before that, Zandwijk had shaped the company's artistic policy together with Guy Cassiers, in a period when the company enjoyed success with Cassiers' Proust cycle and with Zandwijk's international work. Under Cassiers and Zandwijk the company's repertoire ranged from Chekhov (Platonov) and Shakespeare (Richard III) to novel adaptations such as Bernlef's Hersenschimmen.
In the final years of the previous Cultuurplan funding period, Zandwijk was already introducing significant new repertoire to the Netherlands. She directed Onschuld by Dea Loher, one of the most important contemporary German playwrights, and with the Flemish writer Arne Sierens she created Meiskes en Jongens, a modern take on Chekhov. After Cassiers' departure, Carel Alons became general director for the transitional period and artistic leadership passed to Alize Zandwijk. She made two major changes: she rebuilt the ensemble and made rooting the Ro Theater firmly in the city a cornerstone of the company's policy.
In 1997 Zandwijk won the Prosceniumprijs, one of the VSCD awards. Her work is often described as anti-elitist, raw and socially engaged, with a great deal happening at once, layered on top of one another. She shows compassion for those at the bottom of society, whom she brings to the stage with humour and imagination. Her policy for the Ro Theater focused on anchoring the company in Rotterdam, on collaboration with international partners and on working with young directors.
On 24 June 2016, after 18 years as a director and artistic director, Alize Zandwijk left the Ro Theater. To mark her departure, an overview of her work was published, Alize Zandwijk - 18 jaar Ro Theater 1998 - 2016, covering the entire period and the 38 productions she directed with the Rotterdam company, including Nachtasiel, Dood van een Handelsreiziger, Branden, Onschuld and Moeders. She has continued her career at Theater Bremen as Oberspielleier, for which she received the Kurt-Hubner-Preis in 2020.
