Ivo van Hove

|2023 Creation

When Ivo van Hove tackled Lucas Rijneveld's novel My Heavenly Favourite, he knew he was working on fiction. While transposing the author's dense, obsessive writing onto the stage, he has achieved the tour de force of staging the collision of two imaginations. That of an adolescent girl, the daughter of a cattle farmer, dreaming of becoming a rock star like Kurt Cobain and tormented by a strong sense of guilt. And that of Kurt, a pedophile vet in charge of looking after her father's herd of cows, who gradually intrudes into her inner world to trap and abuse her. Greater is the shock as actors Eefje Paddenburg and Hans Kesting play to perfection this unbalanced and unhealthy relationship between an adult and a child. In a progression that is as inexorable as it is pernicious, the beauty of this raw piece lies in the way it sheds light on the issue of sexual violence, through the prism of both the predator and his victim, reminding us Herman Melville's words "Truth uncompromisingly told will always have its jagged edges".

This show is supported by the Performing Arts Fund NL.

This show is recommended for a +16 audience. It contains scenes of sexual violence against minors that could be disturbing for the audience.

The lighting design may contain some dazzling or stroboscopic lighting system, which may affect guests who are prone to epilepsy.

Due to the use of straw spread on stage, this show is not recommended for people with allergies.

Listening area
As the show deals with the theme of sexual violence, representatives from Planning Familial will be on hand to listen to you before and after the show.