Ibsen huis

The characters who come on stage all share a silhouette. Are they cousins, sisters, daughters and sons of a unique character imagined by Henrik Ibsen? What does the mother-house imagined by Simon Stone reveal? From a central place, a nourishing centre that presides over the immensity of the stage of the courtyard of the lycée Saint-Joseph, the Australian director has decided to propose a flat-pack architecture modelled on a genealogy: each chapter in the life of this family is a room, he house peels and opens like a fruit, the audience move from one work to the next. By re-exploring the dramaturgic continuity, he returns, with this Ibsen huis, to the central questions of a family going through a crisis, to the wounds that haven't healed. Bedroom, kitchen, or attic carry within themselves traumas and struggles, but also happy memories. Starting from his own experience, Simon Stone brings together the lives of modern people and a bestiary of characters dear to Ibsen: those who pull away the sheet that covers the lies of everyday life. Stage writing, handpicked actors, multifaceted dramaturgies that play with the last two centuries in the history of theatre... Ibsen huis is a play that blazes a new dramatic trail to continue questioning Man and his survival instinct. How do we fight to keep going in an abnormal world, when abnormal situations were the norm until now?

Text and direction Simon Stone
Dramaturgy et translation Peter van Kraaij
Music Stefan Gregory
Stage design Lizzie Clachan
Lights James Farncombe
Costumes An D'Huys
Assistant director Nina de la Parra

With Claire Bender, Janni Goslinga, Aus Greidanus jr., Maarten Heijmans, Eva Heijnen, Hans Kesting, Bart Klever, Maria Kraakman, Celia Nufaar, David Roos, Bart Slegers

Production Toneelgroep Amsterdam
With the support of Gert-Jan and Corinne van den Bergh and for the 71st edition of the Festival d'Avignon : Dutch Performing Arts Fund