21
nov

Annual Ibsen Lecture 2019

Foto: Marc Brenner
Torsdag 21. november 2019, at 18:00 – 20:00
Nasjonalbiblioteket – Store Auditorium

Internationally Acclaimed Dramatist to Oslo

Samuel Adamson (UK) is one of the world’s leading Ibsen adaptors. He will be visiting Oslo to discuss his latest play Wife (2019), inspired by A Doll’s House.

The Centre for Ibsen Studies proudly presents an evening with Samuel Adamson at the Annual Ibsen Lecture on 21 November at the National Library. Adamson has previously reworked Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (2003), Pillars of the Community (2005) and Little Eyolf (Mrs. Affleck, 2009); the last two were commissioned by the Royal National Theatre in London. “Samuel Adamson’s exciting new play explores the evolving institution of marriage. Sam has had a long relationship with Ibsen. We are delighted to have him in Oslo in order to discuss the disconcerting and surprising aspects of Ibsen’s works that are made relevant again and again by dramatists like him,” says Liyang Xia, Acting Head of the Centre for Ibsen Studies.

The Annual Ibsen Lecture includes an exclusive discussion between Adamson and Xia. It will also feature a special reading of scenes from Wife by professional actors, chosen in cooperation with The Norwegian Ibsen Company, founded by Kåre Conradi.

In Wife, Adamson expands Ibsen’s narrative to explore the power relations in same-sex relationships, giving a new twist to the ever-growing interpretations of Ibsen’s most infamous ending. “The great quality of his play is that it shows we are still waiting for the miracle promised at the end of A Doll’s House and that the quest for the ideal continues,” The Guardian wrote after the play’s premiere in London earlier this year.

Samuel Adamson is the winner of Whatsonstage Theatregoers’ Choice Best New Play Award 2008 and Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2014.

The Annual Ibsen Lecture is free and open to the public. Previous speakers have included Terry Eagleton (UK), Thomas Ostermeier (Germany) and Joan Templeton (US).

For any questions or further comments, contact: Liyang Xia, Acting Head of the Centre for Ibsen Studies, liyang.xia@ibsen.uio.no, +47 22 85 86 87.