A Note from Charlie
Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck has held a special fascination for me for more than twenty years. In 1986, as a young director at the start of my career, I served as Assistant Director to Lucian Pintilie on his groundbreaking production at the Guthrie Theatre and Arena Stage. I knew I wanted to direct my own version of Ibsen’s masterpiece some day, and my growing feelings of discomfort about the current state of our society tell me that now is the time. Ibsen’s searing indictment of naive idealism, and of a culture governed by a broken moral code, is more relevant and important today than ever.
Finding the right translation was critical in order to liberate Ibsen’s masterpiece from antiquated dialect and to highlight its contemporary relevance. When I met with Richard Nelson in the spring of 2007, I was delighted to discover that we shared a similar vision for the potential of the play and Court’s commission of a new translation will enliven Ibsen’s ideas for a new generation. I have admired Richard’s work for many years, and directing his James Joyce’s “The Dead” proved one of the highlights of my tenure at Court.
Similarly, I’m thrilled to collaborate with architect and Scenic Designer Leigh Breslau and Lighting Designer John Culbert to create the contrasting worlds in each half of the play. As the three of us learned when we worked together on Uncle Vanya, the stark volume of the MCA space can maximize the impact of a minimalist set. This will be particularly important for The Wild Duck as we begin with an elaborate setting and strip it bare as the Ekdal family’s truth is revealed and their fantasy existence crumbles around them.
My intention is to create a production of The Wild Duck that realizes the work’s extraoridinary potential for contemporary relevance, as Pintilie’s production did a generation ago, taking advantage of Ibsen’s classic text to address some of our most pressing social issues.
–Charles Newell
