Ibsen x 100 during the Ibsen Festival

The festival programme includes 30 Ibsen productions from 15 different countries. At the national level the festival has a broader base than usual by way of a collaboration between the National Theatre, the national touring company Riksteatret and Det Åpne Teatret (The Open Theatre).

The National Theatre´s own productions

The National Theatre will implement all of its stages during the festival and present six own productions. The opening production on 24 August on the Main Stage (Hovedscenen) will be "Ghosts" (Gengangere) directed by Alexander Mørk-Eidem. Anne Marit Jacobsen and Ole Johan Skjelbred Knudsen have been cast in the roles of mother and son Alving. On the Amfi Stage (Amfiscenen) "Hedda Gabler" will be presented, premiering 25 August. In the leading role we meet Petronella Barker. Theatre Director Eirik Stubø is also responsible for direction. "When we dead awaken" (Når vi døde vågner) will be shown in the Paint Shop (Malersalen) with Stein Winge as director and Jan Grønli in the role of the sculptor Rubek. On the Backstage (Bakscenen) "The Master Builder" (Byggmester Solness) will premiere, directed by Runar Hodne and with Per Egil Aske in the leading role.

"The Wild Duck" (Vildanden) will be performed during the festival at both Torshovteatret (the Torshov Theatre) and on the Main Stage (Hovedscenen). On 2 September there will be a premier at Torshovteatret of a new production of the play directed by Toril Goksøyr and Camilla Martens. Eirik Stubøs´ production from the Ibsen Festival in 2004 will premiere again on the Main Stage (Hovedscenen) and after the festival will be sent out into the world on tour: first as a visiting production at the prestigious Next Wave festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, and then at the Piccolo Teatro in Milano.

A co-production between the National Theatre and the Swedish national touring company Riksteatern of "Little Eyolf" (Lille Eyolf) will premiere on the Backstage (Bakscenen) 14 September. This production is the debut of Sweden´s leading dramatist and the artistic director for Riks Drama, Lars Norén, as an Ibsen director. After the Ibsen Festival the production will tour in Sweden and then return to the National Theatre.

The Ibsen programme at Riksteatret and Det Åpne Teatret

Riksteatret and Det Åpne Teatret are key collaborating partners and contributors to the year´s festival. Niels Fredrik Dahl´s play "Henrik and Emilie" (Henrik og Emilie), which is based on fragments of the story about the piquant meeting between the aging dramatist and the young and innocent Emilie Bardach in Gossensass, has been on tour with Riksteatret this spring. The production is co-produced by the National Theatre and will be performed on the Amfi Stage (Amfiscenen) during the festival. Riksteatret will present a series of productions at its new premises in Nydalen: "Hedda Gabler" directed by Yngve Sundvor with Lavleen Kaur in the leading role, and visiting productions from the Den Nationale Scene (the National Stage) in Bergen of "Little Eyolf" (Lille Eyolf), Rogaland Teater with "When We Dead Awaken" (Når vi døde våkner), Teater Manu with "Peer Gynt" and Pocketteatret with "The Story of the Wild Duck" (Historien om den ville anda).

Det Åpne Teatret has in connection with Ibsen Year 2006 initiated an international short-text competition, which has resulted in 17 short-texts, and an animated film, which will be presented on 9 and 10 September at the theatre premises in Grønland in Oslo. In addition, the theatre will present a premiere of a new play by Ibsen´s heir in Norwegian dramatic arts, Jon Fosse, and visiting productions from Malawi, from the Portuguese Artistas Unidos and from the Russian Kazantsev Centre for Contemporary Drama and Staging.

Foreign Productions

Chinese Hedda - sword swinging. Photo: Jarl Fr. Erichsen/Scanpix

A total of 11 foreign visiting productions have thus far been prepared for the festival. Robert Wilson has created a new Ibsen production, this time "The Lady from the Sea" (Fruen fra havet) in Susan Sontag´s adaptation, at Teatr Dramatyczny in Warsaw, which will be performed on the Main Stage (Hovedscenen) 28 and 29 August. Also to be presented on the Main Stage are the Swedish Royal Dramatic Theatre´s (Dramaten) production "John Gabriel Borkman" directed by Hilda Hellwig and with Jan Malmsjö in the leading role, and "Hedda Gabler" from Schaubühne in Berlin under the direction of Thomas Ostermeier who has established himself as one of Europe´s leading directors for the theatre. His production of "A Doll´s House" (Et dukkehjem), which visited the Ibsen Festival in 2004 has toured all over the world - and continues to do so. His production of "Hedda Gabler" is now in the process of achieving the same success. From China, the Hangzhou Yue Opera in Hangzhou will present a version of the same play as traditional Chinese Shaoxin opera, the same production, moreover, which we received a sample of during the official opening ceremony of the Ibsen Year 2006 in January. And from Théâtre National de Strasbourg in France comes a production of "Brand" directed by Stéphane Braunschweig.

Danish Hedda - lesbian. Photo: Signe Vilstrup

The Amfi Stage (Amfiscenen) will host the Icelandic National Theatre (Tjodleikhúsid) with "Pétur Gautur", a visually strong and unique production of Norway´s "national drama" Peer Gynt. Two productions by the Betty Nansen Teatret of Copenhagen will visit the festival, "Hedda - an erotic death route" (Hedda - en erotisk dødsrute), an interpretation directed by Peter Langdal with Sonja Richter as lesbian Hedda, and Paprika Steen as her partner in the role of Tesman. The theatre´s version of Peer Gynt with rap, magic tricks, stand-up and theatre spectacle in blissful harmony will be shown on the Backstage (Bakscenen).

In the Paint Shop (Malersalen) "Double Nora" will be presented, a visiting production from Teater Natori in Tokyo along with "A Doll´s House" (Et dukkehjem), a Norwegian-Indian production from Damini House of Culture and "Nora" from Belyj teatr in St. Petersburg. At Torshovteatret a visiting production of "A Doll´s House" (Et dukkehjem) will be presented by the theatre centre CITO in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. And at Kulturkirka Jacob (the Culture Church Jacob) one has found the ideal performance space for a visiting production of "Brand" from Teatrul National Radiofonic in Romania, which premiered in a Lutheran church in Bucharest in 2005.

Other arrangements

In collaboration with the Norwegian Critics Association, the National Theatre invites to a seminar/debate meeting at the Amfi Stage (Amfiscenen) on 26 August on the theme of "Ibsen the provocateur". The seminar will take place in English.
Two exhibitions will be on display in the audience foyer during the festival, one produced by the National Theatre´s costume department entitled "Ibsen costumes" and one produced by the Moscow Art Theatre entitled "Ibsen´s and Chekhov´s props".
The Ibsen-relay is being arranged for the sixth time with the finale to take place on the Amfi Stage (Amfiscenen) on 4 and 5 September. A professional jury will select a winner from the three final performances.
The 11th international Ibsen conference, this year arranged by the Centre for Ibsen Studies at the University of Oslo, will take place at the Urbygningen 21-26 August.
And a number of Oslo´s other theatres will add further spice to the festival with a variety of Ibsen productions: "Henrik Ibsen´s collected works in 68 minutes" (Henrik Ibsens samlede verker på 68 minutter) at Victoria Teater, "Midsummer Night" (Sancthansnatten) at Parkteatret, "TanGhost" at Christiania Theater, "World Citizen by Disposition" (Verdensborger av gemytt) at Oslo Nye Centraltheatret and Teater Fusentast´s "Nora - The Moving Picture Show" and "Peer Gynt".

For tickets and more information: http://www.ibsenfestivalen.no