Breaking The Pot - Henrik Ibsen...

Born 1828, in Skien, Southern Norway, Henrik Ibsen was the son of a successful businessman. When he was a boy his family's fortune took a dramatic turn for the worse. They experienced a severe social fall - an upheaval that left deep imprints on little Henrik. The characters in his plays often mirror these early painful experiences of his, and his themes often deal with issues of financial difficulty, as well as moral conflicts that come from darker private secrets that are often hidden from society.

To ensure his place in higher education, Henrik'sfather arranged for him to work as an apprenticein a pharmacy, in the coastal town of Grimstad. Hepublished his first play aged 22. His success as aplaywright, however, was not to come until muchlater. From 1850 to 1858 he worked as Artistic Director of the first Norwegian Theatre house in Bergen, returning to Oslo only to experience rejection and hardships. Becoming increasingly disillusioned, and at the same time choosing to believe in his own artistic and cultural ideas, he decided to leave Norway for Italy. This initial travel and stay was made possible through friendly benefactors. In Italy, Ibsen wrote his first poetic drama Brand (1865). This vibrant study of religious extremism and moral conflicts earned him European fame, and a substantial grant from the Norwegian Government, which ensured him the possibility of further artistic growth. This gave him the time and space he needed: leading to his masterpiece study of Norwegian 'folk soul' - Peer Gynt (1867).

These plays won Ibsen wide artistic as well as critical acclaim. This recognition afforded him the freedom and confidence to dare to express stronger judgements and beliefs that tested social, ethical and personal issues of his time. The body of work he developed during this period, which he termed the "drama of ideas" constituted a profound and rich expression of human fate and destiny. Testament to the power of his descriptions of humanity is that his plays are performed in more than 20 theatres around the world every day.

These, plus his next series of plays gave him more power, income and influence, as well as placing him at the centre of philosophical, social and political controversy across Europe. His work also became vitally important for the development of our modern understanding of fundamental human rights.

In 1879, A Doll House was published. Being a scathing criticism of the traditional roles of men and women in Victorian marriage, the play roused outrage and disgust, as well as consolidating Ibsen's reputation for fighting the 'cause of humanity.' "I must decline the honour consciously to have worked for the cause of women. For me it has appeared to be the cause of human beings. . . .My task has been to portray human beings" Henrik
Ibsen, 1898

The response to A Doll House in Ibsen's day was divisive, to say the least. People were hurt and provoked. At a particular dinner party in Oslo, a plea was written on the invitation card: 'we kindly ask our guests to refrain from discussing A Doll House.' So controversial was the play's ending, that a renowned German actress playing Nora refused to act out leaving her husband and children. Ibsen reluctantly wrote an alternative
ending for this one production, where Nora stays, for the sake her children. Critics bemoaned the lack of reconciliation between Nora and her husband. Socialists and radicals, on the other hand, praised the play for condemning everyday life!

Ibsen stressed that the director of his plays should endeavour to create, "truth to life: the illusion that everything is real and that one is sitting watching something that is taking place in real life." With A Doll House, Ibsen completely rewrote the rules of drama with a 'realism' that radically challenged the social order and moralistic, romantic theatre forms. From Ibsen forward challenging assumptions and directly speaking about issues has been considered one of the factors that makes a play Art, rather than entertainment.

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