Tony Winner Ivo van Hove Will Direct Stage Adaptation of Bestselling Novel A LITTLE LIFE

Tony Award winner Ivo van Hove will direct a stage adaptation of the bestselling 2015 novel A Little Life. The stage adaptation will make its premiere this fall at Amsterdam's Stadsschouwburg Theatre, with performances beginning September 20th and an opening on September 23rd.

Theater company Toneelgroep Amsterdam will helm the production, to be adapted for the stage by Koen Tachelet, a previous collaborator with van Hove on Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead.

In a feature on Toneelgroep Amsterdam's site, a collaboration between author Hanya Yanagihara and Ivo van Hove has been in discussion for over a year. "It must be an interpretation, not a literal translation," Yanagihara said. "The book demands full surrender from the reader. And that will be the case with the play. That is the case with all of Ivo's work." (translated from Dutch)

Hanya Yanagihara's A LITTLE LIFE centers on the lifelong friendships between four men, exploring the effects of abuse and the support systems that help individuals overcome it. The play's ensemble will feature Ramsey Nasr, Maarten Heijmans, Majd Mardo and Mandela Wee Wee as the four friends from the novel. Eelco Smits, Hans Kesting, Marieke Heebink, and Steven van Watermeulen will also appear.

A LITTLE LIFE will feature scenic and lighting design from Jan Versweyveld, costume design from An D'Huys, and musical compositions from Eric Sleichim.

Read the full show description and statements from van Hove and Yanagihara here.

Ivo van Hove won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Arthur Miller'S A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. As General Director of Holland's leading theatre company Toneelgroep Amsterdam, Ivo van Hove has staged many internationally acclaimed productions, including, in New York: Alice in Bed, More Stately Mansions (Obie Award), A Streetcar Named Desire, Hedda Gabler(Obie), The Misanthrope, The Little Foxes, and Scenes From a Marriage, all at the New York Theatre Workshop; Roman Tragedies, Cries and Whispers, Opening Night, Angels in America, and Antigone at BAM; and Teorema at the Lincoln Center Festival.