Zomertrilogie

ove in the Time of Crisis

Following the success of Roman Tragedies and Angels in America, Kaaitheater is once again presenting a theatre marathon by Toneelgroep Amsterdam. The director Ivo van Hove mobi-lises the whole ensemble to tackle a light-hearted comedy of manners by the 18th-century Ital-ian playwright Carlo Goldoni.

Summer Trilogy focuses on the materialist excesses and amorous intrigues of an upper mid-dle-class family. The wealthy Filippo and his daughter Giacinta are preparing for their annual holiday. Her fiancé Leonardo and his sister Vittoria are also getting ready to move to their residence outside the city: they are less wealthy but opt to live on credit and join in the mad-ness of consumption, feasting and decadence. When Giacinta sees to it that her suitor Gug-lielmo also accompanies them to the summer residence, it gives rise to a series of comic situa-tions in which Goldoni criticises middle-class short-sightedness and the lack of true love and friendship.

Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793) is regarded as one of the greatest comedy playwrights in theatre history. With works like The Servant of Two Masters and The Coffee Shop he broke with the tradition of the commedia dell’arte by presenting recognisable characters who struggle with their own self-image and the expectations of middle-class society. Summer Trilogy is not only an 18th-century comedy full of surprising twists; the play also holds up a mirror to present-day society. It portrays middle-class society as a group of individuals focused on consumption and pleasure without any sense of responsibility.

Ivo van Hove. Just as in Roman Tragedies, in Summer Trilogy Ivo van Hove has once again created a full-length production with the whole ensemble. ‘This play is about people who live on credit against their better judgement. Which is very interesting now that the consumer society in which we live is facing a financial crisis.’ This season Van Hove will also be directing his new performance, Teorema, and his Opening Night, Crusades, Roman Tragedies, La voix humaine and Angels in America will be staged once again. Van Hove has won many national and international prizes, including the 2007 Annual Award of the Society of Dutch Theatre Critics, and, together with the stage designer Jan Versweyveld, the Dutch Proscenium Award in 2008.

Toneelgroep Amsterdam is the civic theatre company of Amsterdam and the largest company in the Netherlands. With its 300 performances and 10 productions per season, TA is a leading and innovative repertory company with international allure, headed by Ivo van Hove. At its core is an ensemble of 21 actors. Some of its best-known productions are Roman Tragedies, The Taming of the Shrew, Mourning Becomes Electra, Crusades, Opening Night, Scenes from a Marriage and, more recently, Cries and Whispers.
TA-2 is TA’s platform for the development of directing talent. TA-junior provides educa-tional programmes and junior performances for and by young people, and TX-extra is the collective name for the fringe programmes that include introductory talks and workshops. TA works together with Eric de Vroedt’s mightysociety and Adel Roosen’s Female Economy.

+ Matinee Kadee: free workshop for children (4-12 years), 14/03 >>