The same can be said of the eccentric costumes, which seemingly transform the characters into objects of art, yet fit in perfectly with the ‘exaggerated’ gestures that are so inherent of expressive, stylised acting. (.) Moreover, each character is assigned a specific musical language expressing his or her personality whilst also reflecting the spiritual and symbolic aspects of this Ibsen play. No harm has been inflicted on either the point behind the drama or the author, quite the contrary.

The project was further supported by: Czech Film Fund, Prague City Hall and Czech Ministry of Culture.Ī seemingly impossible and risky transformation has been achieved: a classical, naturalistic play made into a piece of music theatre composed of grotesquely exaggerated scenes, where the actors seamlessly navigate from singing to recitatives or conversation and vice versa. The opera was created for and will be performed as part of the project ‘Play Ibsen! Theatre Play with Accompanying Programme’, funded by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway in the framework of the EEA Grants 2014–2021. The creative team includes Tine Surel Lange, a Norwegian composer and interdisciplinary artist. The opera’s libretto was written by Lucie Trmíková, a scriptwriter and actress who has played six leading female roles in Ibsen’s plays so far. The collaboration between Jan Nebeský, who has devoted his entire career to Ibsen’s work, and Matouš Hejl, representing the youngest generation of composers, promises a gripping approach to the genre and a significant contribution to the options and forms of musical theatre in the twenty-first century. For the first time in its history, JEDL has prepared a ‘big canvas’ in the sense of a large cast and technical difficulty. Staging Ibsen as an opera allows for new and unexpected ways of interpreting and understanding this quintessential naturalistic drama. Having produced seven more Ibsen’s plays, Nebeský returns to Ghosts, now dressed up in a completely different genre. His radical interpretation caused a great stir at the Ibsen Festival in Oslo. Director Jan Nebeský staged it 30 years ago as his first production of an Ibsen play. Invoking the topic of euthanasia was scandalous at that time, and remains highly controversial to this day. The play is about lies, fear, conventions, bigotry and hypocrisy. OPERA IBSEN: GHOSTS When Henrik Ibsen finished his Ghosts 140 years ago, theatres in Kristiania, Stockholm and Copenhagen refused to stage the play.

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