Act II of Ibsen’s world arrives on Delhi stage

Henrik Johan Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright, wouldn’t have guessed that his works would one day be performed by Chinese, Egyptian, Iranian and Indian actors.

Henrik Johan Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright, wouldn’t have guessed that his works would one day be performed by Chinese, Egyptian, Iranian and Indian actors. Yet, here they are, crazy about acting and Ibsen, ready to perform at the Delhi Ibsen Festival, 2009, that started this Thursday, and will continue till December 13.

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The festival will include five Indian productions and four from abroad. It kicked off with Amal Allana’s production Metropolis, on December 3 and 4. This play revolves around three of Ibsen’s works, with the setting changed from a Norwegian “parlour” to an “Indian city/street”. Indian theatre groups such as Abinaya Theatre from Kerala will incorporate multimedia audio and visual imagery during their performance of Ibsen’s play Lady from the Sea on December 5 and 6.

Director Zuleikha Chaudhari’s tongue-in-cheek production Some Stage Directions for John Gabriel Borkman is a response to Ibsen’s play of the same title.

Egypt’s Lamusica Independent Theatre Group has given a feminist interpretation to the famous play A Doll’s House that will be performed on December 8 and 9. Iran’s Bazi Theatre, with an all female cast, will perform ‘The Devil’s Ship’ based on Lady from the Sea on December 10 and 11.