Exhibition, Films, Talks & Events

All About Theatre About Film

Ivo van Hove & Jan Versweyveld

3 October 2021 — 23 January 2022

All About Theatre About Film – Ivo van Hove & Jan Versweyveld, Eye Filmmuseum Amsterdam, 2021, © Studio Hans Wilschut

This artist duo's film-to-stage adaptations synthesize theatre with film, live video, and music. They are also renowned for their innovative way of interacting with audiences. At the core of their work is an urge to experiment and break conventions.

Film and theatre influence each other continuously. To celebrate that relationship between the two worlds, Eye has invited stage director Ivo van Hove and scenographer Jan Versweyveld to compile an exhibition.

All About Theatre About Film – Ivo van Hove & Jan Versweyveld, Eye Filmmuseum Amsterdam, 2021, © Studio Hans Wilschut

For All About Theatre About Film, Van Hove and Versweyveld swap the stage for the museum, breathing new life into works of drama in the exhibition spaces in an associative manner. It draws on the plays they have worked on together, which are based on classic films by seven directors: Marguerite Duras, Michelangelo Antonioni, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Ingmar Bergman, John Cassavetes, Luchino Visconti, and Sidney Lumet. In an associative manner, they bring the theatre place back to life in the exhibition space.

The rooms are filled with a securely chosen selection of sound recordings, film fragments, notebooks, props, photographs, and video footage. Just like a stage play, this exhibition is composed of various acts, with a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Each of the sequential spaces spotlights a different play. This associative journey through the oeuvre of Van Hove and Versweyveld stimulates all the senses.

All About Theatre About Film – Ivo van Hove & Jan Versweyveld, Eye Filmmuseum Amsterdam, 2021, © Studio Hans Wilschut

Watch the exhibition trailer:

campaign image All About Theatre About Film

The history of film is inextricably linked to that of the theatre.

All About Theatre About Film – Ivo van Hove & Jan Versweyveld, Eye Filmmuseum Amsterdam, 2021, © Studio Hans Wilschut

Scenes from a Marriage (after Ingmar Bergman) (2005) © Jan Versweyveld

During the early years of cinema, theatrical works often provided the inspiration – many early films were based on successful stage plays, and extended shots made them look like filmed plays. Conversely, distinctive cinematic techniques quickly found their way onto the stage. That is why the title refers to two iconic films about the theatre: All About Eve (1950, Joseph L. Mankiewicz) and All About My Mother (1999, Pedro Almodóvar).

Network (after Sidney Lumet) (2017) © Jan Versweyveld

“When I’m in a museum, theatre or cinema I want to be immersed in chaos. I want to feel confusion, fear, hope.”

Ivo van Hove

The press on All About Theatre About Film:

“It’s a show that leaves you giddy: desperate to watch or rewatch the films that inspired them, vexed about the stage productions you missed, and bowled over by their development of intricate, thrumming worlds…” (The Guardian)

“Ivo van Hove succeeds in creating a three-dimensional sensation that stimulates all the senses … rescued from oblivion…preserved for eternity. And that is partly down to their love of film.” (★★★★★ De Volkskrant)

“...very exciting...a tour de force...so stunning you can’t take your eyes off it...A feast for the senses...” ( ★★★★ De Standaard)

“....film becomes play becomes exhibition” (Het Parool)

“Exhibition about theatre about film is an artwork in its own right All About Theatre About Film feels like a genuine theatrical experience, in which the visitor plays a role.” (★★★★ NRC Handelsblad)

“…an experience in which exhibition, theatre and film merge.” (De Filmkrant)

Films, talks & events

Persona (after Ingmar Bergman) (2012) © Jan Versweyveld

Kunstschrift cover All About Theatre About Film

Kunstschrift

Kunstschrift magazine will publish a special edition (in Dutch) to accompany the exhibition, including a special interview with Ivo van Hove.

For sale in the Eye Shop and online

About Ivo van Hove and Jan Versweyveld

Director Ivo van Hove and scenographer Jan Versweyveld, both born in Belgium in 1958 have worked together on dozens of productions that have caused a sensation internationally for the way they constantly probe the boundaries of theatre. Their works center on complex individuals, clashing characters with a hidden, dark side. The plays possess a highly physical quality and respond to social undercurrents. Cinema is a recurring point of departure in their work, which has been staged from Broadway to Taipei and received countless accolades.