THE HIDDEN FORCE

About the show

1900, Java. Otto van Oudijck governs his province with vigour. He sees himself as the representative of a superior European culture. He lives for his work. For the colony, which he wants to bring to a higher level. He is oblivious to the fact that his wife is having affairs with other men. But when Van Oudijck dismisses a local regent for misconduct, mysterious things start to happen in his house and around him. Ivo van Hove’s staging of Louis Couperus’s masterpiece revolves around the clash of two cultures. One is seemingly open, rational and bureaucratic. The other is concealed, magical and mysterious. The westerner dominates and controls, but he can’t fight the hidden force of the east, which imperceptibly permeates and wears everything out.