Ibsen’s Ghosts (NO)
Director Marit Moum Aune and choreographer Cina Espejord have created a version of Ghosts as ballet – because the play’s brutality rivals the powers contained in dance.
Directed by Marit Moum Aune / Nasjonalballetten
Oswald Alving comes home – from the life of a free artist in Paris – to a narrow fjord in western Norway. In the face of people who do not talk, Oswald becomes ironic and distanced. Gradually he discovers more of the secrets that burden the family, but he must also face his own secrets. His mother, Mrs Alving, welcomes her long-awaited son – and eventually becomes aware of what, or who, he carries with him.
Can we reach a level of openness at which lies no longer affect us? That is the question that director Marit Moum Aune asks in his version of Ghosts as an inner thriller in which people discover more and more of their own history. It’s a story about the unspoken, how it can grow and become insurmountable. It requires great courage to confront a lie that a whole life is based on.
Together with the young, acclaimed choreographer Cina Espejord, Moum Aune has envisioned Ibsen’s play as ballet. The two believe that the story is suitable for dance because its brutality, on the outer and the inner level, rivals the powers contained in dance. Nils Petter Molvær has written completely new music which he will perform on stage in collaboration with Jan Bang. Ibsen’s Ghosts becomes a narrative performance in the language of modern dance.
Produced by: The Norwegian National Ballet. Director: Marit Moum Aune. Choreographer: Cina Espejord. Music: Nils Petter Molvær.
Cast: Pastor Manders: Ole Willy Falkhaugen. Young Pastor Manders: Mark Wax. Oswald / Mr. Alving: Andreas Heise. Engstrand: Kristian Alm. Mrs Alving: Camilla Spidsøe. Young Mrs Alving: Natasha Jones. Regine: Grete Sofie B. Nybakken.
Musicians: Nils Petter Molvær and Jan Bang. Sets: Even Børsum. Costumes: Ingrid Nylander. Lighting design: Kristin Bredal. Producer: Anette Edmunds. Responsible for the production in DNO&B: Jahn Magnus Johansen. Staging/rehearsal: Marit Moum Aune/Cina Espejord. Rehearsal managers: Marit Moum Aune, Cina Espejord, Jahn Magnus Johansen.