My Heavenly Favourite
Marieke Lucas Rijneveld received the prestigious International Booker Prize for the English edition of his debut De avond is ongemak. The translation rights of his widely acclaimed second novel Mijn lieve gunsteling have so far been sold to fourteen countries. Ivo van Hove is the first director to adapt this heartbreaking and at the same time terrifying novel for the stage.
Location deSingel, Antwerp
Run time 140 minutes
Genre Theater
Language Dutch
Please note this performance is about an adult who is sexually attracted to a minor and contains sexual violence. The performance uses strong lighting effects including stroboscope and the set uses a large amount of straw.
My Heavenly Favourite
A novel that the author himself thought no one would ever want to read, but which became a bestseller in a short time. A 49-year-old vet develops a forbidden love for a farmer's underage daughter during a sweltering summer.
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A love that quickly becomes an obsession. A story with moving but also intense scenes in which the adult man and the 14-year-old girl grow closer and closer until the boundary lines are crossed.
About My Heavenly Favourite
'I am very honoured that the grand master of the stage, Ivo van Hove, is performing Mijn lieve gunsteling on the stage. I have every confidence that it will be a wonderful adaptation. The cow in the spotlight! And the love, of course, the love.' - Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
'Marieke Lucas Rijneveld treads the slippery slope of a forbidden relationship between an adult man and an underage girl in an idiosyncratic, beautifully written and important book. A rollercoaster of emotions: ecstasy, deep unhappiness, loneliness, guilt, jealousy, craving, nightmares and sex.' - Ivo van Hove
In the press
Trouw
'My Heavenly Favourite is an impressive performance that resonates.'
De Volkskrant
'My Heavenly Favourite on stage, there's no way to escape it.'
Digital brochure
Read more about the production's author, direction, music, scenography and costumes in our digital brochure.
Ivo van Hove was director of Internationaal Theater Amsterdam from 2001 till 2023.
In season 23|24, his directing of The Damned, My Heavenly Favourite and Who Killed My Father will be reprised.
CREDITS
based on the book by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
direction and adaptation Ivo van Hove
accompaniment adaptation and dramaturgical advice Bart Van den Eynde
scenography and lighting design Jan Versweyveld
song lyrics Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
composition songs Wende Snijders and Koen van der Wardt
music and sound design George Dhauw
video design Christopher Ash
costumes An D'Huys
cast Hans Kesting, Eefje Paddenburg, Katelijne Damen, Steven Van Watermeulen, Achraf Koutet
musician Roos van Tuil, Tosca van der Waals
cows Dora and Trix
private producer Marcelle and Joost Kuiper, Hans Peter Sauerwein
supported by Ammodo
This performance is supported by
