UNCW theatre presents 'The Wild Duck'
Trey Kent Morehouse | Staff Writer
Issue date: 11/18/09 Section: Lifestyles
Henrik Ibsen is the second most produced playwright in the world, second only to Shakespeare. Yet in America, only a handful of his plays get produced regularly. Many are familiar with productions of "A Doll's House" and "Ghosts," but it is rare to have the opportunity to see a production of Ibsen's "The Wild Duck." UNCW is providing such an opportunity Thursday, Nov. 19 through Monday, Nov. 23.
Henrik Ibsen was an early Norwegian realist playwright who wrote in the late 1800s. He is sometimes referred to as the "godfather of modern theatre" because of his contributions to dramatic literature. "The Wild Duck" concerns the fate of Hjalmar Ekdal and his family after the appearance of Gregers Werle into the family's life. After discovering that his childhood friend Hjalmar has married his father's old lover, Gregers embarks on a mission to awaken Hjalmar Ekdal form his "life lie" and thus allow Ekdal to live an ideal life. Even though his intentions are good, Gregers' mission seems to succeed only in creating chaos in the Ekdal household. As director Ed Wagenseller said, "Sometimes it's best to let sleeping dogs lie."
UNCW Theatre's production of "The Wild Duck" will be set in 1950s America. According to Wagenseller this decision was made early on because the production team wanted to keep the show a period piece, but did not want to set the play in the Victorian time period in which Ibsen wrote it. The task of updating the script to fit with the 1950s cultural setting and mode of speech was given to professor Charles Grimes, who reworked and essentially rewrote the script to fit with the 1950s vernacular. The desire is that this updated version will make the play more relevant to modern audiences and the language easier to speak for American actors. According to Grimes, the translator of the play, Ibsen hoped that translators would translate his plays "exactly the way people talked where and when they lived."
Ibsen is famous for writing "problem plays" that deal with social and economic concerns of the Victorian time period. At first glance, "The Wild Duck" does not appear to have any overtly obvious social ills to discuss. Instead, as Grimes suggests, "The Wild Duck" seems to be dealing with the much larger theme of Ibsen's views on truth in society.
"The play is urging us to believe that truth is a relative virtue, that human kind cannot bear very much reality, and that often we are better left with illusion rather than truth," Grimes said.
According to Grimes, one of the resounding concepts for this production has been, "this is a comedy, this is a comedy, this is a comedy…until it's not."
"This is not a tragedy flecked with bits of comedy, it's a comedy with a burst of tragedy in the end," Grimes said.
"The Wild Duck" will be performed at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, through Saturday, Nov. 21, and Monday, Nov. 23. A matinee performance will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22. All performances will be in the Mainstage Theatre in the Cultural Arts Building on the UNCW campus.
Henrik Ibsen was an early Norwegian realist playwright who wrote in the late 1800s. He is sometimes referred to as the "godfather of modern theatre" because of his contributions to dramatic literature. "The Wild Duck" concerns the fate of Hjalmar Ekdal and his family after the appearance of Gregers Werle into the family's life. After discovering that his childhood friend Hjalmar has married his father's old lover, Gregers embarks on a mission to awaken Hjalmar Ekdal form his "life lie" and thus allow Ekdal to live an ideal life. Even though his intentions are good, Gregers' mission seems to succeed only in creating chaos in the Ekdal household. As director Ed Wagenseller said, "Sometimes it's best to let sleeping dogs lie."
UNCW Theatre's production of "The Wild Duck" will be set in 1950s America. According to Wagenseller this decision was made early on because the production team wanted to keep the show a period piece, but did not want to set the play in the Victorian time period in which Ibsen wrote it. The task of updating the script to fit with the 1950s cultural setting and mode of speech was given to professor Charles Grimes, who reworked and essentially rewrote the script to fit with the 1950s vernacular. The desire is that this updated version will make the play more relevant to modern audiences and the language easier to speak for American actors. According to Grimes, the translator of the play, Ibsen hoped that translators would translate his plays "exactly the way people talked where and when they lived."
Ibsen is famous for writing "problem plays" that deal with social and economic concerns of the Victorian time period. At first glance, "The Wild Duck" does not appear to have any overtly obvious social ills to discuss. Instead, as Grimes suggests, "The Wild Duck" seems to be dealing with the much larger theme of Ibsen's views on truth in society.
"The play is urging us to believe that truth is a relative virtue, that human kind cannot bear very much reality, and that often we are better left with illusion rather than truth," Grimes said.
According to Grimes, one of the resounding concepts for this production has been, "this is a comedy, this is a comedy, this is a comedy…until it's not."
"This is not a tragedy flecked with bits of comedy, it's a comedy with a burst of tragedy in the end," Grimes said.
"The Wild Duck" will be performed at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, through Saturday, Nov. 21, and Monday, Nov. 23. A matinee performance will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22. All performances will be in the Mainstage Theatre in the Cultural Arts Building on the UNCW campus.
Be the first to comment on this story