The wild duck + An enemy of the people
Contrasting, intense and aesthetic Ibsen montage.
Directed by Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson
Tomas Stockmann has realized that a local prestige project, where his brother Peter is on the board, constitutes a threat to society. He decides to go public, Peter tries to stop him. But Tomas has the truth on his side. And the support of the majority. He thinks.
In another Ibsen universe, Gregers Werle discovers a secret about his friend Hjalmar Ekdal's family – a secret involving Gregers's father, the wholesale dealer. The truth will result in disaster for the little family, if it comes out.
What happens if you combine these two universes? Icelandic director Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson, who has a degree from Berlin, has dreamed of bringing together Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People and The Wild Duck for a long time. With a critical view, he debates power-hungry white men from the middle class, who have neither the capability to see themselves from another perspective, nor the capability to compromise.
The result is an expressive and psychologically laden production, where Gregers Werle and Tomas Stockmann are portrayed as the same man. Wholesale dealer Werle and Peter Stockmann are also melted into one character, Gregers’s brother Peter Werle. Peter can lose everything if both secrets are revealed, while Gregers is willing to sacrifice everything in the name of the truth. The result is an Ibsenian Cain and Abel story.
This time events unroll 130 years later, in present day Norway. The topic is no longer toxic waters, but oil rigs belonging to Northern Oil & Gas, where Peter is the CEO. The Wild Duck + An Enemy of the People has an original score, and is a contrasting, intense and aesthetic Ibsen montage posing the question: Is the truth always the right path?
Actors: Mads Ousdal, Eindride Eidsvold, Nader Khademi, Kai Remlov, Andrea Bræin Hovig, Kjersti Tveterås, Lasse Lindtner, Ole Johan Skjelbred, Terje Strømdahl and Frøydis Armand.
Director: Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson. Scenographer: Vytautas Narbutas. Costume designer: Sunneva Àsa Weisshappel. Composer: Bjarni Frimann. Make-up: Ruth Haraldsdottir Norvik. Dramatic advisor: Hege Randi Tørressen.
Dancers: Elisabeth Buer Vase, Emily Natalie Su, Ida Eline Wøien and Tuva Holen.