DOCSLIB.ORG

IBSEN News and Comment the Journal of the Ibsen Society of America Vol

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
IBSEN News and Comment the Journal of the Ibsen Society of America Vol IBSEN News and Comment The Journal of The Ibsen Society of America Vol. 28 (2008) Phoenix Theatre, New York, An Enemy of the People, page 12 Gerry Goodstein IBSEN ON STAGE, 2008 From the Midwest: Two Minnesota Peer Gynt’s: Jim Briggs 2 From Dublin: The Gate’s Hedda Gabler: Irina Ruppo Malone 6 From New York: the Irish Rep’s Master Builder and the Phoenix’s Enemy: Marvin Carlson 10 From Stockholm: the Stadsteater’s Wild Duck: Mark Sandberg 14 NEWS AND NOTICES Ibseniana: The Rats’ Peer Gynt 16 ISA at SASS, 2009; Amazon’s Ibsen Collection, the Commonweal Ibsen Festival 17 IBSEN IN PRINT Annual Survey of Articles 18 Book Review: Thomas Van Laan on Helge Rønning’s Den Umulige Friheten. Henrik Ibsen og 43 Moderniteten (The Impossible Freedom. Henrik Ibsen and Modernity) The Ibsen Society of America Department of English, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York 11201 www.ibsensociety.liu.edu Established in 1978 Rolf Fjelde, Founder is a production of The Ibsen Society of America and is sponsored by support from Long Island University, Brooklyn. Distributed free of charge to members of the So- ciety. Information on membership in the Society and on library rates for Ibsen News and Comment is available on the Ibsen Society web site: www.ibsensociety.liu.edu ©2008 by the Ibsen Society of America. ISSN-6171. All rights reserved. Editor, Joan Templeton Editor’s Note: We try to cover important U.S. productions of Ibsen’s plays as well as significant foreign pro- ductions. Members are encouraged to volunteer; please contact me at [email protected] if you are interested in reviewing a particular production. Peer Gynt The Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis January 18 – March 2, 2008 The Commonweal Theatre, Lanesboro April 26 – May 18, 2008 The state of Minnesota, which is probably the oldest and most venerable of Norwegian-American en- claves, was the site, in early 2008, of not one but two productions of Peer Gynt. Both were the culmination of a carefully nurtured project, both were presented in familiar Ibsen venues but in nearly-new theaters, and both were, in different ways, exceptional theatrical experiences. The earlier of the two was at Minneapolis’s Guthrie Theater, nationally and globally acclaimed, and a favorite destination for Midwestern theatergoers for nearly a half century. In 2007, the Guthrie moved to a breath- taking new downtown structure on the banks of the Mississippi, a recent triumph of famed French architect Jean Nouvel. Of its three performance spaces, the Wurtele thrust stage most closely resembles that of the original Guthrie, and was the venue for Peer Gynt. The driving force behind the production was not a Guthrie regular, but the well-known American actor and director Mark Rylance, who played the title role and whose brief appearance in Minnesota fell between his successful if controversial tenure at London’s famous Globe Theatre, where he was the founding artistic direc- Page 2 tor, and a starring role on Broadway in a revival of spectators to join the fun. The mood is festive, the Boeing-Boeing, a 1960s West End farce. Rylance, punch bowl in place, and clusters of balloons with incidentally, began his professional career not very “Peter” written on them hang suspended, wait- far from the Guthrie, at the now defunct Wisconsin ing to be released. As the house lights dim, Peer/ Shakespeare Festival at the University of Wiscon- Rylance, in a snappy business suit, arrives with a sin at Platteville, an endeavor which was under- confident strut, is properly surprised, and then, in- appreciated in its time and is still missed today by stantly, the stage darkens and the framing device of at least a few of us. It was Rylance who solicited the party dissolves. When the lights come up, only the famous poet Robert Bly, Minnesota’s Poet Lau- Peer remains, stripped to faded red long johns and reate and an elder statesman among Norwegian- cowering under a scolding Aase in Ibsen’s familiar Americans, to complete a translation of Peer Gynt opening scene. The director’s clever surprise party on which Bly had worked intermittently over many has enabled him to juxtapose the successful fan- years. Bly chose rhymed couplets to evoke Ibsen’s tasy Peer of Peer’s dreams and the real Peer, the verse, and the combination of 19th-century diction poverty-stricken failure who is the object of his and breezy modern argot, which pleased some and mother’s scorn—and love. The Aase, Isabel Monk, displeased others, was evidently meant to shock. If a Guthrie veteran who continues to lend grace to the translation was cloying and too cute at times, it every role she plays, ably manages Ibsen’s ranges showed both facility and fluency. of brashness and tenderness. Another important member of Rylance’s team was director Tim Carroll, whose partnership with Rylance has included several productions at the Globe. Carroll’s focus was on juxtaposition: Norway and Minnesota; youth and age; the troll kingdom and the world of men; destitution and wealth, and so on. And Rylance also brought on board his wife, Claire van Kampen, as composer, who, with no apologies to Grieg, drew from an as- sortment of traditional and contemporary sources in her partly cacophonous and somewhat unmemo- rable score. Michael Daniel The performance begins with a party, Other cast notables, most in multiple roles, something of an old-fashioned barn dance, to include the two veteran Guthrie performers Rich- which the audience is invited. Set designer Laura ard Ooms, who plays the bridegroom’s father and Hopkins constructed a simple, imposing backdrop the Skinny Devil, and Richard Inglewski, the Troll which suggests the interior of a barn, and in front King and “Monsieur Airhead” (the Frenchman); of it, a puncheon floor of rough planks which en- Tyson Forbes is a brawny Aslak; Jim Lichtschneidl tirely covers the thrust stage and which plays a is a properly menacing Button Moulder (but with a significant role of its own as the action unfolds. prop ladle better suited to vichyssoise than molten With the house lights up, the actors—all but Ry- metal). Miriam Silverman, a Guthrie newcomer, lance—assemble onstage, emerging individually plays Solveig with an enchanting softness, though or in small groups, greeting each other by their real perhaps without the undergirding passion behind names, frolicking about with the several children the character’s steadfastness and sacrifice. included in the cast, trying out new dance steps as It is, of course, Rylance who bears the a small band of rustic musicians plays what Mid- responsibility of marshalling the production, and westerners call “old time,” and coaxing front-row he largely succeeds, his trademark pixie-like mis- Page 3 chief ringing especially true in the act-one fantasy have come to expect and was a landmark theatre scenes; he then assumes the rueful wisdom of a experience. man of the world as he experiences various suc- The Guthrie show closed on Sunday, cesses but never fulfillment, and finally, a distinct March 8, just as rehearsals were getting under- gravitas as he nears the end of his journey and be- way for another, much less lavish, but no less gins to recognize its futility. successful Peer Gynt, in the town of Lanesboro. A pleasant two-hour drive south of the Twin Cit- ies, Lanesboro, a small resort community tucked into Minnesota’s Southeastern “Bluff Country,” is home to the Commonweal Theatre Company, a year-round professional troupe which annually produces an Ibsen Festival (whose productions are regularly reviewed in this journal). The Festival, the only one of its kind in North America, was the brainchild of Eric Bunge, managing director of the Commonweal and a local maven whose efforts as businessman, hotelier, actor, singer, translator and Michael Daniel self-styled diplomatic liaison have helped to bring The Guthrie brought its usual power pack Lanesboro to its present ascendancy. The Festival’s of stunning aural and visual effects: explosions, tricky trapdoors, echoes, scrolled “gobo” lighting, The swelling surface becomes impeccably crafted costumes and wigs. But the the shifting desert sands of North most enduring impression was left by the stage Africa, the deadly whitecaps off floor. In a company brochure called “Building the Production,” set designer Hopkins termed her in- the Norwegian coast, and, in vention “simplistic” and also “a major challenge,” general, the treacherous, unsteady and indeed, the floor’s construction must have been ground upon which Peer—like anything but simple. It included forty 2 x 12 planks, all of us—treads. very long, very heavy, rough cut and sandblasted, then fitted with thousands of auxiliary parts to achieve a remarkable, slow undulating movement, coordinator is Adrienne Sweeney, who is also a fre- striking enough to elicit gasps. The floor was as- quent Commonweal performer. Sweeney has made sembled first in miniature, then in full scale in the “Ibsen weekend” a multi-faceted spectacle for the scene shop, in its operative entirety, before being local community and for many non-local partici- painstakingly moved onto the stage. The effort was pants as well, with concerts, dances, storytelling, worth it. The swelling surface becomes the shifting art exhibits and installations, a farmers’ market, desert sands of North Africa, the deadly whitecaps lectures and panel discussions, plenty of Norse off the Norwegian coast, and, in general, the treach- foods and crafts, and many activities for children. erous, unsteady ground upon which Peer—like all Since its inception in 1989 up until last of us—treads. year, the Commonweal had performed in the old The Guthrie Peer Gynt is the company’s St.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Approval Page for Graduate Thesis Or Project Gs-13
    APPROVAL PAGE FOR GRADUATE THESIS OR PROJECT GS-13 SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS AT CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LOS ANGELES BY Dan Terrence Belzer Candidate Theatre Arts Field of Concentration TITLE: The Sound and Music of Ibsen APPROVED: Susan Mason, Ph.D. Faculty Member Signature David Connors, D.M.E. Faculty Member Signature Jane McKeever, M.F.A. Faculty Member Signature Peter McAllister, Ph.D. Department Chairperson Signature DATE: October 13, 2011 THE SOUND AND MUSIC OF IBSEN A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance California State University, Los Angeles In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts By Dan Terrence Belzer October 2011 © 2011 Dan Terrence Belzer ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Susan Mason for her advisement and guidance throughout my graduate studies and thesis writing. Her insight and expertise have been invaluable to me. Additionally, I thank Dr. David Connors and Professor Jane McKeever for serving on my thesis committee and for giving me so much individual attention during my directed studies with them. I also thank my mother, Geraldine Belzer, who has been completely supportive of and interested in my endeavors and pursuits throughout my entire life. Her encouragement to pursue a graduate degree and her interest along the way, including discussing several of the plays I read in my coursework, made this journey all the more memorable. iii ABSTRACT THE SOUND AND MUSIC OF IBSEN By Dan Terrence Belzer Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen included specific sound and music stage directions and details in his nineteenth-century realistic prose plays.
    [Show full text]
  • Rebellion of Osvald Alving Reflected in Henrik Ibsen's
    REBELLION OF OSVALD ALVING REFLECTED IN HENRIK IBSEN’S GHOSTS DRAMA (1881): PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH PUBLICATION ARTICLE Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Getting Bachelor Degree of Education in English Departmen by: ANANDA DHIRA ANORAGA A320110085 DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION SCHOOL OF TEACHER TRANING AND EDUCATION MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF SURAKARTA 2016 REBELLION OF OSVALD ALVING REFLECTED IN HENRIK IBSEN’S GHOSTS DRAMA (1881): PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH ANANDA DHIRA ANORAGA School of Teacher Training and Education Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pemberontakan yang ada dalam drama Henrik Ibsen yang berjudul Ghosts dengan Pendekatan Psikoanalitik. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis drama berdasarkan Pendekatan Psikoanalitik. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif dengan menggunakan drama Henrik Ibsen Ghosts (1881) sebagai objek. Ada dua jenis sumber data: primer dan sekunder. Sumber data primer adalah naskah drama Henrik Ibsen Ghosts dan sumber data sekunder adalah beberapa buku sastra dan beberapa artikel yang berhubungan dengan drama. Metode pengumpulan data dalam penelitian ini adalah studi pustaka dengan membaca dan meringkas data. Dalam menganalisis data, penulis menggunakan analisis deskriptif. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah Osvald memiliki kondisi psikologi yang buruk. Hal ini dibuktikan dengan pemberontakannya yang telah dilakukan. Meskipun ia tahu bahwa berhubungan seks bebas dan penyalahgunaan obat-obatan terlarang yang menyebabkan sifilis, tetapi dia masih mencoba untuk menggunakan itu. pemberontakan lain yang telah Osvald dilakukan adalah ketika ibunya melarang dia untuk menikah Regina yang sebenarnya saudara tirinya, Osvald bersikeras untuk menikah Regina karena dia mencintai Regina dan ia tidak pernah tahu bahwa Regina adalah saudara tirinya karena ibunya tidak pernah mengatakan kepada fakta-fakta yang terjadi di antara ayahnya dan ibu Regina.
    [Show full text]
  • Peer Gynt: Suite No. 1 Instrumentation: Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2
    Peer Gynt: Suite No. 1 Instrumentation: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, strings. Duration: 15 minutes in four movements. THE COMPOSER – EDVARD GRIEG (1843-1907) – Grieg spent much of the 1870s collaborating with famous countrymen authors. With Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, the composer had hoped to mount a grand operatic history of King Olav Tryggvason but the two artists soon ran afoul of one another. A possible contributing factor was Grieg’s moonlighting project with Henrik Ibsen but, in truth, Bjørnson and the composer had been nursing hurt feelings for a while by the time the latter began to stray. THE MUSIC – As it turned out, Grieg’s back-up plan was more challenging than rewarding at first. He was to compose incidental music that expanded and stitched together the sections of Ibsen’s epic poem. This he did with delight, but soon found the restrictions of the theatrical setting more a burden than a help creatively. “In no case,” he claimed, “had I opportunity to write as I wanted” but the 1876 premiere was a huge success regardless. Grieg seized the chance to re-work some of the music and add new segments during the 1885 revival and did the same in 1902. The two suites he published in 1888 and 1893 likely represent his most ardent hopes for his part of the project and stand today as some of his most potently memorable work. Ibsen’s play depicted the globetrotting rise and fall of a highly symbolic Norwegian anti-hero and, in spite of all the aforementioned struggles, the author could not have chosen a better partner than Grieg to enhance the words with sound.
    [Show full text]
  • The Tension Between Illusion and Reality in H. Ibsen's the Wild Duck
    Global Journal of HUMAN-SOCIAL SCIENCE: A Arts & Humanities - Psychology Volume 19 Issue 8 Version 1.0 Year 2019 Type: Double Blind Peer Reviewed International Research Journal Publisher: Global Journals Online ISSN: 2249-460x & Print ISSN: 0975-587X The Tension between Illusion and Reality in H. Ibsen’s The Wild Duck By Dr. Mahmoud Nayef Baroud Islamic University of Gaza Abstract- Much of contemporary criticism of Ibsen plays has examined one of two concerns: Ibsen and Feminism, or Ibsen as a realist and a pioneer of modern theatre and drama. Articles on the first matter are often critical of universalizing readings of Ibsen that would have the dramatist concerned with the ills of humanity; articles on the latter theme tend to rejoice Ibsen’s assumed anti-theatrical overcoming of melodrama. Both topics can be found in his masterpiece The Wild Duck which is more honoured and received well in the study more than the other plays. Like Hamlet, The Wild Duck can be interpreted by each one in his own image; one day it will be read as a tragedy or tragicomedy, the next as the harshest irony; parts of it are clumsy, in other parts are embedded old controversies of that time. So searching yet so delicate is the touch, that these flaws and notions seem in themselves to strengthen the play. In this work, Ibsen perfected his own special power to infuse the particular, dull, limited fact with a halo and a glory. This paper is an attempt to examine the tension between illusion and reality in the play.
    [Show full text]
  • The Torpedo Under the Ark : "Ibsen and Women"
    / The Torpedo under the Ark "Ibsen and Women" by- Ellen Key Authorized translation from the Swedish by MamahBoutonBorthwick The Ralph Fletcher Seymour Co. FINE ARTS BUILDING, CHICAGO Copyrighted 1912 by The Ralph Fletcher Seymour Co. THE TORPEDO UNDER THE ARK "IBSEN AND WOMEN" By Ellen Key. “To My Friend the Revolutionist.” “To shift the chessmen is no affair of mine. To upset the chess-board—there you have me absolutely.You invoke a deluge to sweep the world. With joy I lay my torpedo under the ark.” Henrik Ibsen— In my eighteenth year, my mother made me happy with three books. Up¬ on the covers I read: “The Comedy of Love.” “Brand.” “Peer Gynt.” I knew that Ibsen was a new Nor¬ wegian poet but my knowledge, like 3 THE TORPEDO UNDER THE ARK that of most Swedish readers in 1868, was limited to that fact. It was then with the real joy of a discoverer that I buried myself in the new world of poetry and ideas which “Brand” and “Peer Gynt” revealed to me. In the “Comedy of Love,” however, I found myself in the sphere of my own dearest thoughts. That is to say, five years before,“The Bailiff’s Daughter” had become one of my devotional books. It is in this splendid work of Camilla Collett*, that Ibsen, according to his own testimony, found part of the metal which he after¬ ward, in “The Comedy of Love,” formed into piercing arrows and sing¬ ing strains. The delight with which I read and re-read “The Comedy of Love,” may best be depicted if I men¬ tion that—when immediately afterwards *The first great Norwegian feminist and sister of Henrik Wegeland, the great poet of Norway, in the years 1830-40.
    [Show full text]
  • Henrik Ibsen 1828-1906
    Sune Berthelsen Menneskeåndens revoltering Henrik Ibsen 1828-1906 Jeg går aldrig ind på at gøre friheden ensbetydende med politisk frihed. Hvad De kalder frihed, kalder jeg friheder; og hvad jeg kalder kampen for friheden er jo ikke andet end den stadige, levende tilegnelse af frihedens idé. Den, der besidder friheden anderledes end som efterstræbelse, han besidder den dødt og åndløst, thi frihedsbegrebet har jo dog det ved sig at det stadigt udvides under tilegnelsen, og hvis derfor nogen under kampen bliver stående og siger: nu har jeg den, - så viser han derved at han netop har tabt den. Ibsen i brev til Georg Brandes, 17/2 1871 Ibsens forfatterskab er på alle måder stort. Hans forfatterskab strakte sig over næsten 50 år, han nåede en verdensomspændende udbredelse, og overfor en lang række af eftertidens kunstneriske udtryksformer fik han kolossal betydning Hans internationale berømmelse kom da han udsendte sine naturalistiske problemdebatterende samtidsdramaer. Væsentlige forudsætninger for Ibsens store gennembrud var Georg Brandes og forlaget Gyldendals direktør Hegel. Om betydningen af de fordringer Georg Brandes havde opstillet for litteraturen i Emigrantlitteraturen (1872), sagde Ibsen: ”Farligere bog kunde aldrig falde i en frugtsommelig digters hænder.” Mens Hegel indtog en mere diskret men ikke mindre vigtig rolle. I samtiden gik vejen til berømmelsens tinder for norske forfattere gennem København. Da Gyldendal blev forlægger for Ibsen begyndte et tæt samarbejde mellem Ibsen og Hegel. For at nå et bredere publikum ønskede Hegel at fremelske et mere universelt præg, bl.a. skulle sproget normaliseres og særnorkse træk udrenses. Den meget oplagsbevidste Ibsen indvilgede straks. Ibsen realiserede med Samfundets Støtter (1877), Et Dukkehjem (1879), Gengangere (1881) og Vildanden (1884) i praksis de teoretiske ideer for det problemdebatterende naturalistiske teater.
    [Show full text]
  • AN ANALISIS and PRODUCTION of ARTHUR MILLER's ADI\PTATION of an ENEMY of the PEOPLE
    AN ANALISIS AND PRODUCTION OF ARTHUR MILLER'S ADI\PTATION Of AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE ._. -~ BY HENRIK IBSEN By DENNIS LEROY SCllNEIDER qi Bachelor of .Arts Oklahoma Stat~ Univer!;!ity Stillwa. ter, Oklahoma 1968 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial f'Q.lfilllnent of the,requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARrS May, 1970 ,· ·' .v z_.,l AN ANALYSIS AND PRODUCTION OF ARTHUR MILLER~~""· ····,.,..,,,,,,. ADAPI'ATION OF~ ENEMY~ m PmPLE "·"·,,,,~ '·':'" BY HENRIK IRSEN .. ,, ···~ ~, ~ The~is Approved: ',.~Q~ / ii PREFACE; The purpose of this thesi1;1 is to do a comprehensive study ot Arthur Miller's adaptation of ,!!i Ene& ,2! ~ People by Henr~k Ibsen, as well as prepare a PrQduction Book descriptive of all the techrl.iques involved I in this production. I would iike to take this opportunity ~o express my appreciation for the assistance and gllidance given me by the following memoers of my coI11X11ittee: Professor Vivia Locke, chairman of the theatre division of the Department of Speech, .and my major adviser; and Dr. Fred 'l'ewe+l, head of the Department of Speech. I would iµ.so like to thank the members of Towr,i. and Gown Comm"Unity Theatre for their continued willing assistance in making the production of An ~ne5Y .2!~ Peo;e!e possible. In addj,tion, I would like to express ~y appreciation to my wife, Karen, for her patience and understanding while this work was being com- plated. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTROOOCTION • . • • 1 Pu:rpose .
    [Show full text]
  • A Doll's House Has Been a Trailblazer for Women's Liberation and Feminist Causes Around the World
    A Doll’s House Resource Guide – BMCC Speech, Communications and Theatre Arts Department A Doll’s House Resource Guide Spring 2014 Speech, Communications and Theatre Arts Department Theatre Program Borough of Manhattan Community College Dates Wed., April 23rd at 2PM & 7PM Thurs., April 24th at 7 PM Fri., April 25th at 2PM & 7PM Sat., April 26th at 7PM Location BMCC, Main Campus 199 Chambers Street Theatre II Admission is Free Table of Contents Page 2 Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) Norwegian Playwright Page 3 Ibsen around the World Page 4 Director’s Notes on the 1950s Play Adaption Page 5 Advertising from the 1950s Page 6 Ibsen and His Actresses Page 7 Questions for the Audience, Sources, and Further Reading A Doll’s House Resource Guide – BMCC Speech, Communications and Theatre Arts Department Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) Norwegian Playwright Why Ibsen? Henrik Ibsen, with the exception of Shakespeare, is the most frequently produced playwright in the world. He is also universally known as "The Father of Modern Drama" and "The Father of Realistic Drama." For over a century and a half, Ibsen's plays have been renowned for displaying a fierce revolt by the individual against an oppressive middle-class society. Specifically, A Doll's House has been a trailblazer for women's liberation and feminist causes around the world. Portrait of Henrik Ibsen. Photograph by Gustav Borgen . Ibsen Timeline 1828 Born in Skien, a small town in Norway. 1843 At 15 he moves to another small town, Grimstad, and works as an apprentice in a pharmacy. 1851 He moves to Bergen and takes on the position of Artistic Director and Dramatist at the Bergen Theatre.
    [Show full text]
  • A Doll's House 2020 Guide
    A DOLL’S HOUSE 2020 GUIDE BY HENRIK IBSEN TABLE OF CONTENTS a) About the author b) Genre c) About the title d) Tone e) Setting f) Structure g) Character list h) Synopsis i) Plot summary and analysis j) Character, characterization and role k) Themes l) Stylistic/literary devices m) Revision questions ABOUT THE AUTHOR Henrik Ibsen was born on March 20, 1828, in Skien, Norway. He was the second son in a wealthy family that included five other siblings. When he was about 8 years old, his family was thrown into poverty due to complications with his father's business. TO GET FULL COPY 70 PAGE GUIDE, QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS OF THIS SETBOOK PLEASE CALL 0724351706. MR CHEPKWONY It was after this when Ibsen started to invest his time reading, writing, painting, and doing magic tricks. Ibsen wrote his first play, Catiline, in 1850 which generated little interest. His second play, The Burial Mound, however, was performed at the Christiania Theatre on September 26, 1850. Later, he wrote a series of plays which included Lady Inger (1855), The Feast at Solhoug (1856), Olaf Liljekrans (1857), The Vikings at Helgeland (1858), The Pretenders (1863), Peter Gynt (1867), The League of Youth (1869), Emperor and Galilean (1873), Pillars of Society (1877), A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts (1881), An Enemy of the People (1882), The Wild Duck (1884), Hedda Gabler (1890), The Master Builder (1892), Little Eyolf (1894), John Gabriel Borkman (1896) and When We Dead Awaken (1899). He also wrote a dramatic epic poem, “Brand” (1866). He married Suzannah Thoresen in 1858 and their only child, Sigurd, was born the following year.
    [Show full text]
  • Xia, Liyang Associate Professor at Centre for Ibsen Studies, University
    Xia, Liyang Associate Professor at Centre for Ibsen Studies, University of Oslo Address: Henrik Wergelandshus, Niels Henrik Abels vei 36, 0313 OSLO, Norway Postal address: Postboks 1168, Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway Title: A Myth that Glorifies: Rethinking Ibsen’s early reception in China Author responsible for correspondence and correction of proofs: Xia, Liyang 1 A Myth that Glorifies: Rethinking Ibsen’s Early Reception in China Introduction There is a consensus among Ibsen scholars and scholars of Chinese spoken drama that the Spring Willow Society staged A Doll’s House in Shanghai in 1914 (e.g. A Ying / Qian 1956; Ge 1982; Eide 1983; Tam 1984, 2001; He 2004, 2009; Chang 2004; Tian and Hu 2008; Tian and Song 2013). In 2014, when the National Theatre in Beijing staged A Doll’s House to commemorate the centenary of this premiere,1 most of the news reports and theatre advertisements cited the Spring Willow Society’s prior performance.2 Scholars and journalists who write about the history of A Doll’s House in China agree in general not only that the performance took place but that it was the first performance of an Ibsen play in China.3 I myself referred to this performance in my doctoral thesis (Xia 2013). In recent years, however, doubts have emerged not only about the claim that the Spring Willow Society performed A Doll’s House, but that the Society performed any plays by Ibsen. The following scholars have asserted that there is no concrete evidence that the performance of A Doll’s House took place: Seto Hiroshi (2002, 2015), Huang Aihua
    [Show full text]
  • University of Warwick Institutional Repository: a Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Phd at The
    University of Warwick institutional repository: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap/36168 This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. Critical and Popular Reaction to Ibsen in England: 1872-1906 by Tracy Cecile Davis Thesis supervisors: Dr. Richard Beacham Prof. Michael R. Booth Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Warwick, Department of Theatre Studies. August, 1984. ABSTRACT This study of Ibsen in England is divided into three sections. The first section chronicles Ibsen-related events between 1872, when his work was first introduced to a Briton, and 1888, when growing interest in the 'higher drama' culminated in a truly popular edition of three of Ibsen's plays. During these early years, knowledge about and appreciation of Ibsen's work was limited to a fairly small number of intellectuals and critics. A matinee performance in 1880 attracted praise, but successive productions were bowdlerized adaptations. Until 1889, when the British professional premiere of A Doll's House set all of London talking, the lack of interest among actors and producers placed the responsibility for eliciting interest in Ibsen on translators, lecturers, and essayists. The controversy initiated by A Doll's House was intensified in 1891, the so-called Ibsen Year, when six productions, numerous new translations, debates, lectures, published and acted parodies, and countless articles considered the value and desirability of Ibsen's startling modern plays.
    [Show full text]
  • Production Staff
    PRODUCTION STAFF S1:age Management MARY MANCHEGO,· assisted b-y jEFFREY EMBLER, ALBERT HEE Company Manager MARGARET BusH Lighting LAURA GARILAO and RoY McGALLIARD, assisted by DANIEL S. P. YANG, MIR MAGSUDUS SALAHEEN, CAROL ANZAI Costume Maintenance CARROLL RrcE, assisted by PEGGY PoYNTZ Costume Construction FRANCES ELLISON, assisted by DoRoTHY BLAKE, LouiSE HAMAl Scene Construction and Painting HELENE SHIRATORI, AMY YoNASHIRo, RrcHARD YoUNG, jEANNETTE ALLYN, FLoRENCE FUJITANI, RoNDA PHILLIPs, CYNTHIA BoYNToN, RosEMARIE ORDONEZ, JoAN YuHAs, IRENE KAME~A, WILLIAM SIEVERS, JoHN LANE, CHRISTOBEL KEALOHA, MILDRED YEE, CAROLYN LEE, ERNEST CocKETT, LoRRAINE SAITO, JumTH BAVERMAN, JosEPH PrscroTTE, DENNIS TANIGUCHI, jANICE YAMASAKI, VIRGINIA MENE­ FEE, LoursE ELSNER, CHARLES BouRNE, VERA STEVENSoN, GEORGE OKAMOTO Makeup MrR MAGsuous SALAHEEN, assisted by BARBARA BABBS Properties AMANDA PEcK, assisted b)• MARY MANCHEGO Sound ARTHUR PARSON Business Management JoAN LEE, assisted by ANN MIYAMOTO, jACKIE Mrucr, CAROL SoNENSHEIN, RANDY KrM, Juoy Or Public Relations JoAN LEE, assisted by SHEILA UEDA, DouG KAYA House Management FRED LEE GALLEGos, assisted by DAVE McCAULEY, HENRY HART, PAT ZANE, VERNON ToM, CLYDE WoNG, Eo GAYAGAS Ushers PHI DELTA SIGMA, WAKABA KAI, UNIVERSITY YWCA, EQUESTRIANS, HUI LoKAHI Actors' Representatives ANN MIYAMOTO, WILLIAM KROSKE Members of the classes in Dramatic Productio11 (Drama 150), Theatre Practice (Drama 200), and Advat~ced Theatre Practice (Drama 600) have assisted in the preparation of this production. THEATRE GROUP PRODUCTION CHAIRMEN Elissa Guardino Joan Lee Amanda Peck Fred Gallegos Ann Miyamoto Clifton Chun Arthur Parson Carol Sonenshein Lucie Bentley, Earle Erns,t, Edward Langhans, Donald Swinney, John Dreier, ~rthur Caldeira, Jeffrey Embler, Tom Kanak (Advisers-Directors) ACKNOWLEDGMENT The Theatre Group wishes to thank Star Furniture Co.
    [Show full text]