THE WILD DUCK Comes to Den Norske Opera in March

Norwegian National Ballet dances Ibsen’s most powerful work, The Wild Duck, in March. The shocking family drama about a lifelong lie has become a ballet during the last part of Marit Moum Aune’s Ibsen trilogy.

Performances run 14 March - 13 April, 2024

How much truth can you handle? 

Every attic conceals family secrets, but the innermost corner of the Ekdal family attic hides the most precious secret of all, a wounded wild duck with a broken wing. 

Hjalmar Ekdal, the man of the house, is obsessed with the duck – but makes every effort to maintain a facade as a family. Young Hedvig wants nothing more than her father’s attention. She is gradually going blind, yet sees more and more – of class differences, illusions, delusions and the adults’ betrayal. 

A chamber work on a grand scale 

When the Norwegian National Ballet dances out the dark secrets of the past in scenes that are as endearing as they are intense, Ibsen’s psychological realism takes on a whole new dimension. 

“The woods take revenge,” says Ekdal in Ibsen’s play. We are transforming the Main Stage into a dark natural landscape where the story is brought to life in a visually striking way. 

Is Ibsen best as dance?  

Hedda Gabler and Ibsen’s Ghost are among the greatest successes of the Norwegian National Ballet, award-winning and acclaimed both in Norway and abroad. Theatre director Marit Moum Aune’s Ibsen trilogy comes to an end with The Wild Duck.  

This time round, she once again teams up with the composer and musician Nils Petter Molvær, set designer Even Børsum and costume designer Ingrid Nylander. 

“Hearts explode when the Norwegian National Ballet dances Ibsen” wrote a reviewer about the first part of the trilogy. We are now doing it again. 

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