The Lady From The Sea has choices to make
Brent Nicastro
Welcome to Cheap Seats, where every Thursday we’ll talk to folks behind the scenes of the stage events opening around town, in order to give you a flavor of the productions that won’t be found in any of the promo materials.
The Lady From The Sea, University Theatre, Mar. 19-Apr. 10
Promo pull-quote: “The emotional conflict over whether to follow one’s heart or not is a struggle that has plagued all peoples during all eras. Ibsen used two Norwegian legends as inspiration for the play. The first legend centered on a man with magically compelling eyes that lured a woman away from her husband and home. The second myth concerned a seaman lost at sea so long that he was declared dead, who returns to find his wife married to another man. Ibsen’s story revolves around Ellida, a woman widowed in her youth, who later remarries and builds a family. Then one day, her lost love reappears and she must choose between her heart and her responsibilities.”
What it’s really about: The love triangle Ellida finds herself in is the focal point of the The Lady From The Sea, but Henrik Ibsen’s play explores issues of willpower and choice for all the characters. “Ellida has to decide whether she should leave the past, but she has to be given that chance to choose,” says director Jeremy Thomas. “Her husband needs to make the choice about whether he can let her go. Ellida’s stepdaughters are also figuring out how they want to live their own lives.”
Fun fact: One of the topics Ibsen is exploring in Lady is the relationship between art and life. University Theatre is highlighting this theme by creating a setting backdrop that’s actually painted as the show goes on. “We’re asking questions about what time does the lead actress step out of the painting and face her own life, in her own way,” says Thomas. “What is the responsibility of the painter to his muse, and at what point is art no longer able to represent reality?”
Best reason to try it: For as often as Ibsen is performed (An Enemy Of The People also is opening Mar. 18 at Overture Center), Lady is one of the master’s lesser-performed works. “It’s one of Ibsen’s least well-known plays in that he provides an answer in the end to the problem he raises,” says Thomas. “Where in Hedda Gabler or A Doll’s House, the freedom [the main characters find] leads to new problems in the future.”
