When Eline Arbo informed her mother at a young age that she wanted to be a theatre director, her mother told her that it would take more than talent and hard work to become a truly great artist – you had to be respectful and caring, too. She remembers her mother telling her that “a lot of great artists are terrible people, and a lot of lovely people are mediocre artists. The hardest thing is to combine the two.”
Today the 38-year-old Norwegian is still striving to meet the high bar set by her mother at no less exposed a workplace than one of the best-known theatres in Europe. Having made a name for herself in her native country and the Netherlands with productions that wedded style and playfulness, Arbo has been the artistic director of Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (ITA) since last September.
