Giovanni's Room

04 Sep '25 to 05 Sep '25

ITA Ensemble / Eline Arbo

Part of the jury-selection for the Dutch Theatre Festival 2025

Director Eline Arbo adapts James Baldwin's timeless classic for the stage. A music filled performance about love, identity, and the fear of being oneself. Giovanni’s Room explores themes such as sexuality, internalized homophobia, and societal pressure, posing the question: can you ever feel at home if you’re not allowed to be yourself?

A poignant story of passion, loss, and the struggle between deep desire and societal expectations, based on Baldwin’s masterpiece.

Festival Nederlands Theater Festival

Run time 125 minutes
Genre Theater
Language Dutch

Please note that this performance uses strong lighting effects including a stroboscope.

Official jury selection 2025

In Giovanni's Room, director Eline Arbo presents a moving and musical adaptation of James Baldwin's classic 1953 novel. The play tells the story of David, a young American of good standing in Paris, who becomes embroiled in a passionate relationship with working-class bartender Giovanni. As David awaits the return of his fiancée Hella, he is confronted with his deepest desires as well as the fear of acknowledging them. When Hella returns, he faces the impossible choice for him between conformity and authenticity.

From the jury report

“Arbo succeeds in translating this timeless story into the present with great urgency. Her direction makes the protagonist's inner conflict intensely palpable. The themes - sexual identity, self-denial, social pressure - are presented in a layered and empathetic manner. The performance probingly poses the question: can you feel at home somewhere if you are not allowed to be yourself?

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The ensemble excels in their acting, with subtle role changes that reinforce the stratification of the characters. The addition of live music, performed by the cast themselves, adds to the emotional impact of the performance and provides a meaningful dramaturgical layer. Giovanni's Room convinces both in terms of content and aesthetics. The performance does not shy away from the pain of exclusion and self-doubt, but manages to make these themes palpable without becoming pedantic. Arbo creates a powerful field of tension between personal desires and social expectations and thus delivers theater that chafes, touches and endures.”

4 - 14 september 2025

Nederlands Theater Festival

Het Nederlands Theater Festival (NTF) annually marks the official kickoff of the new theater season. During eleven days, starting on the first Thursday in September, the festival in Amsterdam presents a selection of the finest, most impressive performances of the past year.

In the press

NRC

“With wonderful devotion, the actor (Smits) battles his way across the virtually empty stage floor, accompanied by fantastically composed and very, very beautifully performed and sung electronic music by the actors themselves.”

Trouw

“With Trump just in office, it almost seems like a radically timely reference to the harsh winds facing the lhbti+ community.”

8weekly

“Arbo creates a wonderful performance.”

Het Parool

“For the first time in the collaboration of director Eline Arbo and her regular artistic and life partner Thijs van Vuure, the music was written and composed entirely by them. That works out wonderfully.”

Credits

by James Baldwin
director Eline Arbo
adaptation Eline Arbo and Bart Van den Eynde
translation Eefje Bosch and Manik Sarkar
composition Thijs van Vuure
scenography Roel Van Berckelaer
lightning design Varja Klosse
dramaturgy Bart Van den Eynde
costume design Rebekka Wörmann
cast Eefje Paddenburg, Eelco Smits, Gijs Scholten van Aschat, Jesse Mensah, Steven Van Watermeulen
assistant director Zorba Huisman, Angelo Ormskerk, Emma Deleu (intern)
assistant music Jonas Meijer (intern)
assistant scenography Leanne Vandenbussche
assistant light Mike Evers
assistant costumes Jelena Bondt
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production leader Inge Zeilinga
production Merel de Vroome, Jente Rikken (intern)
stage manager Kevin Cuyvers
technical staff Emile Bleeker, Yannick Bruine de Bruin, Sander van Elteren, Rinse de Jong, Daan Kapteijn, Zinzi Kemper, Olga Liashkova, David Logger, Nelis Meijer, Wouter Pieters, Dennis van Scheppingen, Michel Smouter, Jonas de Vries, Devon Hoopman (stage), Lilian Bakelaar (intern)
costume atelier Farida Bouhbouh, Wim van Vliet (head)
hair and make up David Verswijveren
dressing Pepa Canel
intimacy coordinator Markoesa Hamer
vocal coach Wieteke Wijte
marketing and communication Iris Istha

thanks to Nesoptics and everyone at ITA
produced by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals Corporation
private producer Marcelle and Joost Kuiper, Gabriëlla de Rooij and Hendrik Jan ten Have, Jeroen van Ingen and Jaap Kooijman, Bertil van Kaam and Felix van der Heijden
this production is supported by Ammodo
coproducer Teatro Nacional de Catalunya