Delhi Ibsen Festival : John Gabriel Borkman - Play December 15, 2008

John Gabriel Borkman - Play. Dir: Anuradha Kapur.

Royal Norwegian Embassy in collaboration with DADA, brings Delhi an unusual festival of six Ibsen plays in brilliant and innovative productions from India, Bangladesh and Norway.

The play is based on a true life incident that occurred in the 1850s, of an army officer accused of embezzlement. Ibsens version concerns the plight of a banker, Borkman, and his family following his indictment and incarceration, for illegally speculating with his investors funds.

As part of the Delhi Ibsen Festival : 10 - 20 December 2008. Henrik Ibsens influence on contempory theatre in India, and on playwrighting, was indeed seminal in inspiring a trend towards Realism on the stage from the 1920s onwards, and gave shape to a form of theatre that had no precedence in India. The resurgence of Ibsen worldwide, in the 21st Century, had different echoes. His plays instantly found resonances in the social, political, cultural and psychological spheres of newly emerging democracies, espousing the cause of freedom of thought, liberation of the underdog, and emancipation. To celebrate, and explore the new dimensions of Ibsens re-birth in the 21st century, the Delhi Ibsen Festival has planned a wide range of activities, to re-position and maximize the impact of Ibsens plays, and link up with some of the present needs of Indian theatre.

Secondly, by involving scholars to work with and observe the work process of the three Indian directors, possibly a new dynamics between scholars and directors would emerge. It would provide the possibility of dramaturgical support for the directors, by scholars. The results would only be known later, but the idea that dramaturgy in Indian theatre was an integral part of the work process, seemed inevitable. It was finalzed that scholars from Delhi would work with the directors.

Language: Hindi/English