Johan Simons

Johan Simons was born in the vicinity of Rotterdam. Initially he studied dance in Rotterdam, then went on to train as an actor in Maastricht. In 1985 he founded the group ZT Hollandia and was their artistic director for 20 years. He is considered one of the great directors of European theatre and works regularly for the Münchner Kammerspiele, the Volksbühne, at the Wiener Festwochen, with the Toneelgroep Amsterdam and at the Paris Opera House. Since 2005 he has been running the NTGent. From 2010 Simons will be Artistic Director of the Münchner Kammerspiele. 

For the RuhrTriennale he has produced Sentimenti (2003), Fort Europa (2005), Das Leben ein Traum (2006) and Merlin (2007).