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Johan Simons, born in the Netherlands, originally had been trained as a dancer and actor. In 1976, he became director and actor at the Haagsche Comedie. In 1985, he founded the Theatergroep Hollandia together with musician Paul Koek. In 2005, Johan Simons joined the Belgian NTGent as artistic director. 2009 the University of Ghent awarded him an honorary doctorate. Several of his productions have been invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen since 2004, including most recently Hamlet and Macbeth by William Shakespeare. From 2010 to 2015, Johan Simons directed the Münchner Kammerspiele and was named Theater of the Year by Theater heute in 2013. Simons was honoured in 2014 with the Berlin Theater Prize and with the Netherlands' most important artistic award, the Prince Bernhard Cultural Fund Prize, which Queen Máxima presented him. Johan Simons was artistic director of the Ruhrtriennale from 2015 to 2017. He is now the artistic director of Schauspielhaus Bochum since the 2018/2019 season. He continues to work regularly at major theatres.

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Event in English, with translation into Romanian
Germany