Who Killed My Father
'Hans Kesting overwhelms in theatrical version Who Killed My Father.' - NRC ★★★★
Ivo van Hove adapted Who Killed My Father, by internationally acclaimed writer Édouard Louis, for the stage. Van Hove turned the very outspoken book into a monologue, especially for Hans Kesting.
Exclusively for The Young Vic, Hans Kesting performs his acclaimed monologue Who Killed My Father in English.
Location The Young Vic, London
Run time 85 minutes
Genre Theatre
Language English
Ivo van Hove about Who Killed My Father in The Young Vic
'After having worked with great pleasure on A View from the Bridge and Eelco Smits' monologue at The Young Vic, I am looking forward to coming back with Hans Kesting with this beautiful and, above all, necessary monologue.'
Who Killed My Father
The anger-soaked Who killed my father is written in the form a letter to his father. Louis found his inspiration in a visit he paid to his father after not seeing him for some time, finding him almost unrecognizable. The man had become ill and aged prematurely, the result of a life marked by alcohol, social deprivation, hard work, and an industrial accident. -|-Louis explains this to the elite, for whom politics is primarily an 'aesthetic issue': they engage in politics that has virtually no influence on their lives. The underclass, on the other hand, is devastated by cutbacks in benefits.
According to the French weekly L'Opinion, the book is read in the Élysée - the official residence of the French president. Louis' diagnosis would align perfectly with Emmanuel Macron's. The writer himself sees it very differently. "My book is against who you are and what you do," he tweeted to Macron. "I write to disgrace you.”
REVIEWS
NRC
'Hans Kesting overwhelms in theatrical version Who Killed My Father.'
De Volkskrant
'Merciless and moving portrait.'
The Guardian
'Powerful...This is unmissable theatre'
The Telegraph
'A tour de force'
Time Out
'A delicately devastating piece'
Evening Standard
'Hans Kesting’s brilliant physical performance anchors this gripping one-man show'
author
Édouard Louis
In his autobiographical literary debut The End of Eddy (En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule), Louis looked back on his tormented youth as a young gay man in the forgotten underclass of society: the north of France, which was ravaged by unemployment. Then came History of Violence (Histoire de la violence) where he tells about the night he was raped by the Algerian Reda, but he then refuses to press charges. It is a novel that explores the causes and effects of violence in an intimate, personal, and politically motivated manner.
In his work, Louis invites discussion about subjects such as class differences, racism, and homophobia. The author does not shy away from political statements: He stood firmly with the yellow vests movement and he took the fight directly to French President Macron: “My book rebels against who you are and what you do.”
Ivo van Hove has been director of Internationaal Theater Amsterdam since 2001.
In season 22|23, he will be directing My Heavenly Favourite (Marieke Lucas Rijneveld) at ITA and his directing of Age of rage, A little life, The Damned, Battles and metamorphoses of a woman, Kings of War and Who killed my father will be reprised.
Hans Kesting (1960) has been performing with the ITA-ensemble since 1987.
In season 22|23 he will perform in the premieres of My heavenly favourite (director Ivo van Hove) and Blood wedding (director Wim Vandekeybus) and in the revivals of Who killed my father, Judas, Age of rage, Kings of war, A little life and The Damned.
Credits
after the book by Édouard Louis
translation, adaptation and direction Ivo van Hove
with Hans Kesting
scenography and lighting Jan Versweyveld
costumes An D'Huys
music George Dhauw
co-producer deSingel Antwerp
private producer Jeroen van Ingen and Jaap Kooijman, Bertil van Kaam