Limelight: The year of Ibsen By Lubna Abdel-Aziz Unrivalled in the history of modern theatre are the daring dramas of . Not since the days of Shakespeare, has any other dramatist given the theatre such vitality by bringing together the right mix of social scrutiny, psychological depth and ethical gravity. He was the first to propel the public to the middle of the next century, by introducing and examining social problems penetrating beyond the hypocritical surface, into the hearts and minds of his subjects. His native Norway has, understandably, dubbed this, the centennial of his death, (23 May, 1906) as "the year of Ibsen". Celebrations are in full swing, launched early in the year, (14 January) by the king and queen of Norway, who hosted an international gala, well attended by dignitaries and heads of state, ten of the world's most renowned Ibsen heroines: Glenda Jackson, Claire Bloom of Britain; Isabelle Huppert, France; Angela Winkler, Germany; Saoli Mitra, India; Bibi Andersen, Sweden; Ghita Norby, Denmark; Lise Fejstad, Wenche Foss and Liv Ullman from his native Norway, were presented at the gala with the Ibsen Centennial Award. Events are planned throughout the year for Britain, Germany, Bangladesh, Egypt, and the very Scandinavian State of Minnesota, USA, including lectures, exhibits, seminars and films, as well as 4,000 performances in 72 countries. New books, biographies and plays have been released and the State Bank of Norway contributed a 20 kroner coin with the image of the bearded Ibsen and his familiar top hat and coat. It is for good reason that Ibsen is considered the founder of modern drama. He dared to go where others dared not. Even if you are unfamiliar with his works, you are familiar with his ideas, his characters and their dilemmas which have inspired many younger writers in their novels, plays and films. Interest in his work heightens with time. In contemporary literature, it represents a long poetic contemplation of people's needs, to live differently than they do: "If this life is dull, and getting duller every day, then let us fix it." His dramas play on 120-150 stages each week, worldwide. He may not have been the first or the only one to move away from Romanticism and explore the rocky social and political road of Realism in the theatre, but he emerged as the most effective. He triumphed over the traditional and conservative prejudices of his day, and had the courage to shed light on the inner conflict and confusion of the tormented soul. With the bursting on the scene of the new science of psycho-analysis, psychologists focussed on his torn characters to further illustrate their own theories. Often referred to as the 'father of psychodrama', or Freud of the Theatre, Ibsen's work has too many facets to be limited to psychological interest. While he did observe signs and symptoms of individual and social behaviour, it is the existential dramatic effects that continue to explore human life from an acute and conceptual perspective, which is the essence of his art. His own life was uneventful, but life around him kept him deeply engaged throughout half a century of writing. He left his native land in 1864 at 36, and traveled throughout Europe, where his ideas were readily embraced. He even visited Egypt and represented Norway at the opening of the Suez Canal. He returned home 27 years later, in 1891, he was 63. He continued to write until a stroke in 1900 left him helpless and joyless. Ibsen wrote 26 plays. His early verse plays were full of irony, emphasising symbolic and mystical qualities. His last 12 modern contemporary plays, deal with dead values and concepts, "now adrift in an ever moving world". Pillars of Society (1877) examines social pretensions based on hypocritical pride. A Doll's House (1879) shocked the world when a gentle, intelligent woman, left her husband to seek a more fulfilling life, on her own. Ghosts (1881), touches the forbidden subject of hereditary venereal disease. An Enemy of the People (1882), a clear statement of resistance against an ignorant majority rule. Hedda Gabler (1890), a study of neurotic women, "I felt pity and terror" wrote Oscar Wilde "as though the play had been Greek." Ibsen analysed his own writing as: "the contradiction between ability and aspiration, possibility and desire." was born in Skien (1828), a tiny coastal town in the south of Norway. His father, Knud was a successful merchant, his mother Marichen a painter and an avid theatre lover. His education was interrupted at age 15 when his father became bankrupt and the family had to move to a farm. At 16, he moved again, to Grimstad, to become a pharmacist apprentice. Late, in the dark of night, Ibsen pursued his passion for playwriting. He published his first play, Cataline, under the pseudonym, Brynjolf Bjarme, which sold only 250 copies. He found success in his second play The Burial Mount (1848). Though a major poet in Norway, it is his plays that have impacted the literary world in Europe and beyond. The chilling world of Ibsen is not without humour, giving his dramas a human warmth, a universal identity. In 1898 George Bernard Shaw called him: "The greatest living dramatist." More than any other, the character of Nora in The Doll's House, won international acclaim. She became a symbol for the women's movement at the turn of the century. When Ibsen sends Nora out into the world, leaving behind a perfect husband, home and marriage, she turns her back and slams the door shut on that secure life. The thud that resulted, resounded around the world and still resonates today more than 100 years later as women continue to crush the concept of the Doll and her House. A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society with laws framed by men, with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view. -- James Joyce (1882- 1941) From Ibsen's Workshop, 1912
