32 replies to this topic

[Jan Brock]

I'd like to see a production of Ibsen's "When We Dead Awaken". Has anyone ever seen it ?

What plays are top of everyone else's wish lists ? (Preferably something that hasn't been staged in recent decades).

[Job]

I'd have chosen exactly the same play as you, Jan. I've always wanted to see WWDA on the stage. And Rosmerholm too.

It would be nice if Ibsen enthusiasts like me could trade in a few Doll's Houses or Hedda Gablers for more productions of of his lesser-known plays. I'll never forget being bowled over by discovering gems like Little Eyolf (done by the RSC a few years back) and The Lady from the Sea (Almeida). These late plays of Ibsen all seem to have a rich undertow of symbolism and near-mysticism that puts them in a higher league than most of his other work.

Job

[Reich]

Zoo Story

La Ronde

[richard]

Rosmersholm was my first Ibsen (1959 with Peggy Ashcroft and Eric Porter) and IMHO an ideal 'first' Ibsen.  (My first Shakespeare was Julius Caesar and that I think is an ideal first Shakespeare).

Saw When We Dead Awaken in Southampton in the 1970s - a rare sighting indeed and a play that would merit revival, either in a small venue or in the Olivier.  The Adrian Noble Little Eyolf (mid 90s) was one of his very best productions for the RSC.  Other Ibsens that need an airing are Love's Comedy, The Vikings at Helgeland, Emperor and Galilean and The Pretenders.

I would also like to see again Jean Anouilh's The Lark, his play on Joan of Arc which leaves Shaw's Saint Joan standing, and Giles Cooper's brilliant black comedy 'Everything in the Garden', one of the truly great post-war plays.

[Statler]

I would also like to see again Jean Anouilh's The Lark, his play on Joan of Arc which leaves Shaw's Saint Joan standing, and Giles Cooper's brilliant black comedy 'Everything in the Garden', one of the truly great post-war plays.

And there was me about to post that I'd love to see Shaw's "Saint Joan"...

[josh]

And there was me about to post that I'd love to see Shaw's "Saint Joan"...

The National's doing it this summer with Anne Marie Duff, so hopefully you won't have to wait very long!

[armadillo]

La Ronde's been done quite  a lot recently but of course it usually goes under the name The Blue Room now.

I really enjoyed a semi-staged Lady's Not for Burning at the NT a few years ago (with Sam West who I think directed it at Chichester) so I'd like to see more Christopher Fry. There are a lot of forgotten writers who would be interesting - how about some Dodie Smith (who had a string of hits in the 1930s) or some Pinero or Granville-Barker? Or any nineteenth century play pre-Wilde? How many plays from the 1850s or 1860s ever get performed now? Or how about Where the Rainbow Ends that was the Christmas show to rival Peter Pan for at least 30 years? So much stuff outside the usual canon that it would be interesting to see instead of the endless Seagulls and Cherry Orchards and Importance of Being Earnests.

[Alexandra]

I'd have chosen exactly the same play as you, Jan. I've always wanted to see WWDA on the stage. And Rosmerholm too.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the Almeida is doing Rosmersholm this autumn.

[Alexandra]

An older Stoppard - Travesties, or Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, or Night and Day, or Hapgood.

[Statler]

The National's doing it this summer with Anne Marie Duff, so hopefully you won't have to wait very long!

Thanks Josh - hadn't spotted that.  Will try to make a trip for that.