John & Gena
“Wonderful love letter to John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands.” – NRC ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
An anti-Hollywood tragicomedy about the work and life of filmmaking couple John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands. Starring Elsie de Brauw, Bert Luppes, Wine Dierickx and Matijs Jansen.
The work of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands balanced, throughout their entire oeuvre, on the border between fiction and reality. Their personal lives were a major source of inspiration in this regard. Their home occasionally doubled as a film set, with their children participating as fellow actors. Often, they collaborated with a close-knit group of performers, each taking on diverse roles across different stages of life. Themes such as professional achievement, family dynamics, and aging resonate deeply within their films. Furthermore, there's a pervasive sense of melancholy surrounding the characters, who often grapple with life's challenges. Through their work, Cassavetes and Rowlands shed light on the darker aspects of the American Dream.
Run time 90 minutes
Genre Theatre
Language Dutch
John & Gena
From the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, John and Gena kicked against the Hollywood cult. Their work balanced on the border between fiction and reality with their personal life as the greatest source of inspiration. Movies were shot in their living room and even the kids played along. With age, the topics changed. In the beginning professional success was central, later the focus was on the search for meaning and happiness. The melancholy films show the dark side of “The American Dream”. But despite all the setbacks, the characters persist in their search for meaning.
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Two generations of actors with a (Young) Hollandia past, Elsie de Brauw and Bert Luppes, Wine Dierickx and Matijs Jansen, throw themselves into the work and life of John and Gena in this performance. What role does success, love, intimacy, work and aging play for the different generations? All this in the raw, radical style that characterises the films and shows so beautifully that life itself can be bigger-than-life.
Lizzy Timmers about John & Gena
Since her time at the Toneelschool Maastricht – where she graduated in 2003 – she has been fascinated by the independent style of John and Gena: "In their work, they rely on the intelligence of the actor as creator; the acting is layered without seeming pretentious. Often, life and work intertwine. John Cassavetes made films like A Woman Under the Influence, Gloria, Opening Night, and Husbands, usually with his wife Gena in the lead role. He enjoyed improvising with like-minded actors such as Peter Falk (Columbo!), in an intimate setting, often in their own home: "They had a love-hate relationship with Hollywood; they were also part of that world of glamour and glitter, but their films show the darker side of 'The American Dream'. In the performance, the actors draw inspiration from the couple and mirror their own lives to that of John and Gena. It's also about their personal lives: what role do all these big themes – success, love, intimacy, work, and ageing – play in their own lives and work?"
REVIEWS
NRC
“Wonderful love letter to John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands.”
Credits
with Elsie de Brauw, Wine Dierickx, Matijs Jansen and Bert Luppes
(live) music Wessel Schrik
direction Lizzy Timmers
assistent director Norah Bouwheer
dramaturgy Koen Tachelet
set and light design Maarten van Otterdijk
lightning Rinke Bartelink
sound design Jens Bakker
costumes Lotte Goos
photography Lonneke van der Palen (scene pictures) Salih Kilic (rehearsal pictures)
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co-production Theaterhaus Jena, Theater Rotterdam en Stichting de Lizzy Timmers-groep
with the support of Fonds21, Fonds Podiumkunsten, Gemeente Rotterdam, Stichting de Lizzy Timmers-groep en Theaterhaus Jena
