John & Gena

Anti-Hollywood Tragikomödie über Leben und Arbeit des Filmemacher*innenpaares Gena Rowlands und John Cassavetes

“John & Gena” is an acting tour de force and at the same time deeply intimate: the production premiered in Rotterdam in 2023 and was chosen by critics as one of the ten best performances of the year in the Netherlands.

In their films, Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes revealed the darker sides of the American Dream. In doing so, their films—made between 1960 and 1990—stood in contrast to the Hollywood cult: their work places relatable characters at the center, outside the usual categories established by Hollywood, in search of happiness. Even then, these characters stumble within a sexist, racist, neoliberal society whose promise of the American Dream places the responsibility for failure squarely on the individual.

They often shot their films at home, blended reality and fiction, and cast children, friends, and even both of their mothers. Moreover, those involved collaboratively developed the films. Lizzy Timmers and the actors drew on this working method in developing “John & Gena”: the four performers—Elsie de Brauw, Wine Dierickx, Matijs Jansen, and Bert Luppes—co-developed the production and sought out their own very personal approaches to the film characters of the directing couple. Each of the actors brings personal experiences into the staging. The result is an intimate evening that, like the films of Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes, plays with the blending of reality and fiction.

“John & Gena” is an initiative by director Lizzy Timmers and is produced by the Dutch collective Wunderbaum in co-production with Theaterhaus Jena, De Lizzy Timmersgroep, and Theater Rotterdam.

Premiere at Theater Rotterdam: April 28, 2023
Premiere at Theaterhaus Jena: June 7, 2024

“John & Gena” was selected for the Top 10 “Best Performance of the Year 2023” in the Netherlands.