The Lady from the Sea – Henrik Ibsen
Translated from Norwegian – Gad Kaynar
Direction and Stage adaptation by Noam Shmuel
Over 120 years after it was written, Ibsen’s masterpiece receives a tightened and refreshing new performance by the Third-Year students of Yoram Loewenstein’s Acting Studio, directed by Noam Shmuel. Premier: March 16th, 2013.
Similar to previous productions (such as Isaac Bashevis Singer’s “The Beloved and Pleasant” and Emile Zola’s Therese Raquin) the Studio continues to choose to bring to its stage classic plays that were deemed controversial at their time and that deal with questions or morality, passion and identity, questions that in our eyes make these masterpieces timeless.
Ellida, “The Lady from the Sea”, leaves her father’s home on the coast and moves to the mountains of West Norway, to the home of her elderly husband, Dr. Wangel.
She shares a roof with him and his two daughters for six years, trapped in a loveless marriage and finding herself serving as a” surrogate” mother and wife in the place of Dr. Wangel’s previous wife, who died at a young age.
The “Fear” that develops in Ellida during these years is the result of a terrible secret that could end up jeopardizing her sanity: a strange man she was engaged to in the faraway past, returns to her from the bottom of the sea and forces her to confront the fateful decision; Should she stay true to her dying marriage and stay in the Norwegian Fjord, or take a journey to the heart of sea and the unknown future?
“The Lady from the Sea” is a poetic, dreamy and vibrant drama brought to stage in an abridged new and current adaptation to Ibsen’s classic masterpiece. Noam Shmuel, the play’s director, has been directing plays for Israel’s “Cameri” Theater (“Games in the Backyard, Page 17, Romeo & Juliet and more) and also serves as Artistic Consultant to Omri Nitzan, the manager of the theater. In the past he has directed for the Studio successes such as “Vulkan Junction” and “Bachelors & Bachelorettes”.
Written By: Henrik Ibsen
Hebrew: Gad Kaynar
Direction and Adaptation: Noam Shmuel
Music: Eyal Weiss
Set Design: Avi Sechvi
Costume Design: Barak Pony
Lighting: Jacob Salib
Movement: Amit Zamir
Performed by the Studio’s Third-Year Students:
Amit Epstein
Ortal Ben-Shoshan
Adriano Jauvel
Netzer Charitt
Sagi Halperin
Eddi Alterman
Avinoam BenNachum
Efrat Ben-Yaakov Peleg
Maya Bachowski
