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John Gabriel Borkman
12 July, 2012 - 21 July, 2012
Henrik Ibsen’s last play John Gabriel Borkman was directed by Emannuel E Garcia.
Winner of “Best Drama” award in the 2012 Wellington District Theatre Federation Full Length Play Competition
Director’s notes
Although John Gabriel Borkman was extraordinarily popular when it premiered in 1896 and was produced throughout Europe the following year, it has had relatively few appearances on the modern stage, a notable exception being the recent revival by the Abbey Theatre in 2010. On the surface, the play chronicles the fate of an embezzler, and thus resonates with topical relevance in an age of financial skulduggery. However Borkman reaches far below the surface into the realms of poetry and psychology, and I think it is the difficulty of communicating these aspects that has resulted in its relative neglect. In fact, Borkman has been presented only once before in New Zealand, and it is fitting that during a year celebrating the silver jubilee Troupe members will dare to render Ibsen’s masterwork.
The setting of the play, so beautifully suggested by Edward Munch’s painting ‘Starry Night”, is as important as the drama unfolding within it and our production will seek to integrate visual spectacle with a soundscape to accentuate the dramatic beauties of a work that has come to be referred to as Ibsen’s “Lear.”