Ibsen, Volume II: Four Plays

by Henrik Ibsen, Brian Johnston (Translator)

Overview

The translations, created through a fresh approach to the Norwegian original in tandem with a keen sense of Ibsen's theatricallity and playability, have all been tested and refined in productions at professional theaters.
The translators have paid particular attention to three aspects of Ibsen's technique: his wit and humor, his "supertext" - the web of rich allusions and references that he weaves in and around his dialogue - and the bold theatricallity of the plays. The result is an Ibsen that sounds contemporary without being slangy or colloquial - an Ibsen of strong ideas but also living characters - and surprisingly different from the image of the cold, forbidding "scold of the North" that we often associate with this giant writer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781575250649
Publisher:	Smith & Kraus, Inc.
Publication date:	01/28/1996
Series:	Great Translations for Actors Series
Pages:	295
Product dimensions:	5.38(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Rick Davis is in his fourth season as Artistic Director of Theater of the First Amendment, a professional company in residence at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. For six years he worked at Center Stage in Baltimore, as resident Dramaturg and Associate Artistic Director. He co-founded the influential American Ibsen Theater in Pittsburgh (1983) and served as Associate Artistic Director. Rick is a regular contributor toAmerican Theatre magazine and other publications, and has also had productions of his translations of Goldoni and Calderon.

Brian Johnston is the author of three major books that have re-mapped the area of Ibsen studies. He writes regularly for the journal Comparative Drama and is a frequent speaker at scholarly conferences of Ibsen including the recent international symposium in Skein, Norway. After a stint at the American University in Beirut, Brian joined the American Ibsen Theater in 1984 and '85 as Dramaturg, and remained in Pittsburgh to join the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University, where he teaches dramatic literature

What People are Saying About This

Arthur J. Slavin

"The translation in always accurate in the sense that it graps the essential nature of Ibsen's Norwegian. But what is more important is his ability to capture the sense of 4th century Greek culture, the richness of both the Christian and pagan ways of expressing things. His work is an enormous contribution of the highest quality. I look foward to seeing the plays in the other three volumes published by Smith and Kraus, with an eye toward use in my seminars."--(Arthur J. Slavin, Justus Bier Distinguished Professor of Humanities. University of Louisville.)