House of Rat
Light design for House of Rat’s version of Ibsen’s The Master Builder, directed and adapted by David Geysen.
About
Director David Geysen adapts and stages Henrik Ibsen’s testament: The Master Builder. A play about a celebrated architect who feels his position wavering—consumed by ambition, guilt, and the fear of the youth destined to succeed him. When a young woman from his past reappears, bearing a promise he once made, his carefully constructed world begins to unravel.
MY ARCHITECT is not a reconstruction, but a new structure.
A free adaptation in which Ibsen’s original work cracks open to make room for something else: an attempt to understand, to hold on, and to let go.
It is about light streaming in and revealing everything. And the human being behind the creator.
David Geysen: “As a theatre maker, you are always open to exceptional material for creating theatre. Sometimes it’s a play, or you meet someone who tells you a story, or it’s an event in your life that brings everything to a standstill. In the case of My Architect, it is all of those things.
Ever since drama school, I’ve had a soft spot for Ibsen’s work. His characters are always driven by a longing that pulls at them, making them profoundly fatalistic. It is no different for Master Builder Solness, and that fascinates me.
In 2020, I met Steve Salembier. He is an architect and theatre maker who teaches space and performance at the Royal College of Art. But above all, he is a fantastic storyteller. Through his vast knowledge, he drew me into the art of architecture and the poetry of building.
This laid the foundation for a performance.
Then my father passed away, and I felt that the questions I was grappling with regarding his death were deeply connected to the play that had been haunting my thoughts. Ibsen’s testament, the legacy of architecture, and finally my father—my architect.
With a fantastic team of designers, creators, and performers, we are now putting the finishing touches on a production that celebrates life…
… with an ode to death.”
Credits
Text: David Geysen
Director: David Geysen
Actors: Beaudil Elzenga, Krisjan Schellingerhout, Iwan Walhain, Amy van der Weerden
Scenography: Thijs Ebbe Fokkens, Mischa Lind, Steve Salembier (architect)
Costume design: Bernadette Kijzers, Boris Witlox
Music: Mischa Lind
Light design: Jorg Schellekens
Première
25 June 2026, House of Rat (Den Haag, NL)