Kristof Van Boven was born in Lier (Belgium). He completed his training at the University of the Arts in Arnhem, where he refused to speak for a year until he fully enrolled in his studies. He initially worked as a freelance actor in the Dutch off-theatre scene. He developed his own plays with Linda Olthof and performed at the Toneelgroep Amsterdam and Noord Nederlands Toneel, among others. From 2004 to 2010 he was a member of the NT Gent ensemble, from 2010 to 2015 at the Münchner Kammerspiele and from 2015 to 2018 at the Thalia Theatre Hamburg. He has worked with the directors Johan Simons, Peter Verhelst, Karin Beier, Karin Henkel, Tian Gebing, Alvis Hermanis, Sebastian Nübling, Luk Perceval, René Pollesch, Karl Wokalek, Barbara Wysocka, Bastian Kraft, Ene-Liis Semper & Tiit Ojasoo and Linda Olthof. He also has a long-standing and close collaboration with the choreographer Meg Stuart.
International co-productions and guest performances have taken him to theatres in New York, Mexico City, Belém, Beijing, Vienna, Zurich, Paris, London, Oslo, Athens, Madrid, Lisbon, the Venice Biennale, the Salzburg Festival (in Meg Stuart’s production It’s not funny!, 2006) and the Festival d’Avignon.
For his role in Elfriede Jelinek’s Winterreise (director: Johan Simons), Kristof Van Boven was voted “Young Actor of the Year” by Theater heute in 2011. He also received the Art Prize of the Akademie der Künste Berlin (category “Performing Arts”) in 2012 and the Gordana Kosanović Acting Prize of the Mülheim an der Ruhr Theatre in 2013. For his role as Eliza in Pygmalion after George B. Shaw in the production by Ene-Liis Semper & Tiit Ojasoo, he was awarded the Hamburg Theatre Prize – Rolf Mares in 2016.
