The Years
"Nothing short of theatrical magic. [...] A celebratory explosion of language and acting." – De Nederlandse Toneeljury.
The Years is a production featuring an all-female cast directed by Eline Arbo. Based on the European bestseller by Annie Ernaux, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2022. The production was selected for Nederlands Theater Festival as one of the most beautiful, groundbreaking, and impressive performances of the season. Mariana Aparicio won the prestigious Theo d'Or award for her role as the most impressive female lead.
Location Athens Epidaurus Festival
Run time 120 minutes
Genre Theatre
Language Dutch
Surtitles Greek, English
Please note that this performance contains scenes that may be perceived as very intrusive. The Years contains a scene about an illegal abortion, played by Mariana Aparicio. This scene can be experienced as intrusive. The abortion is described in detail and fake blood is used.
The Years
In The Years, five actresses collectively narrate the life of one woman against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world. Raised amidst the aftermath of World War II, she breaks free from her middle-class upbringing, and becomes a writer with a sharp political and social awareness. She grows up amidst the debris of the Second World War, disentangles herself from her middle-class environment and becomes a writer with a sharp political and social awareness. Using photos, songs and news reports, she talks about emancipation, being a woman, sexuality, class differences and individual opportunities. In separate scenes, musical, happy and melancholic memories are evoked. By following one life, we see the world change. The hyper-personal history of a French woman thus becomes a universal biography of post-war Western Europe.
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"All images will disappear. Death erases everything in a second and so we have to save something from the time where we will never be again." – from The Years
The Years is the prize-winning and critically acclaimed masterpiece by French author Annie Ernaux. De Standaard der Letteren called it a "dazzling history of a time and of a life". For director Eline Arbo, it is dream material. The book brings together the two lines that she explores in her work, on the one hand the 'sociological' view of The End with Eddy (2020) and on the other hand the powerful women as protagonists of The Hours (2021) and Yerma (2021).
Eline Arbo about The Years
‘When I read The Years I knew immediately: this book was written for me. Annie Ernaux's style is so striking and universal that all those memories resonate in me. Her images evoke a sense of nostalgia, but at the same time shame and anger.’
REVIEWS
de Volkskrant
"Thanks to the fantastic acting and the musical performances, the hours – and at the same time the years – fly by."
Trouw
"'Ordinary woman' Annie Ernaux is a much-needed addition to the male theater canon."
de Telegraaf
"In this magnificent production, Arbo showcases how epic an entirely ordinary woman's life can be."
Theaterkrant (Critic's Choice)
"Once again, Arbo proves herself to be the finest ensemble director in the Netherlands, and her production of The Years is one of the best performances of the year."
Het Parool
"Director Eline Arbo and her five actresses do a brilliant job with their performance of The Years bringing to life the eponymous book by Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux and the lives of women in the second half of the 20th century."
Credits
direction and adaptation Eline Arbo
based on the book by Annie Ernaux
translation Hofstede
music Thijs van Vuure
set Juul Dekker
costume Rebekka Wörmann and Bonnie Brandt (intern)
lightning Varja Klosse en Emanuel Nijkerk (intern)
dramaturgy Willemijn Barelds and Hiske Krammer (intern)
assistant director Ludy Golstein
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cast Mariana Aparicio, Nettie Blanken, Janni Goslinga, Ilke Paddenburg and June Yanez
co-production Het Nationale Theater and Internationaal Theater Amsterdam
