Brisbane review - Ibsen’s Rosmersholm Strikes a Chord

By Lilian Harrington

Production:    Rosmersholm

Writer:              Henrik Ibsen

Company:       Seercraft

Director:          Silvan Rus

Location:         Albert St. Albert St. Uniting Church (opposite King George Square, City Hall, Brisbane).

Season:            September 19- October 10

Bookings:          www. seercraft.com.au/ silvan@seercraft.com.au

Opening night at SEERCRAFT ‘s inaugural production of Rosmersholm began with a pipe-organ musical preshow in the Church, from director, actor and composer Silvan Rus, which sent a message out to the audience about the serious theme and message that this 19^th century play from Henrik Ibsen contained.

Known for his tendency to go against traditional customs and thinking of his day, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, has written a very complex, psychological drama which tells the story of Johannes Rosmer, an aristocratic clergyman, who has turned away from the church in order to follow the new Liberalism movement, after the death of his first wife Beata, who died by suicide a year earlier.

He is still haunted by her and needs the support and friendship of his companion, Rebecca West, who was Beata’s friend. Rebecca is strong- willed and is able to influence Rosmer to abandon his conservative thinking and take on more liberal views. In contrast, Rosmer’s old friend and brother- in- law, Rector Kroll, opposes these liberal views which Johannes and Rebecca share, and attacks him in the local press. Further, when Rebecca finally reveals to them that she had encouraged Beata to think the worse, and had pretended to be with child to Johannes.

Influenced by these false messages, the fragile, barren and sensitive Beata became mental unstable and she took her life; this left her husband and her friend both haunted and disturbed.  

While other writers look for happier endings, Ibsen boldly takes a darker path and doesn’t hesitate to seek truth through a more dramatic turn of events, where he questions events that hold audience interest.

Silvan Rus has assembled a very well- trained and experienced cast for Rosmersholm, which serves as his directorial debut in his new company. He has not only taken on one of Ibsen’s most difficult plays, but he has thought to present it in the Albert St. Uniting Church, a very traditional Brisbane church setting where the imposing altar structure and pipe -organ adds some degree of formality and positivity, yet some complication in the staging in regard to the areas that could be lit and also some of the visuals.

Rus not only directed and acted in this very lengthy and wordy play he also learned to play the organ and composed much of the music and sound. The cast of five characters: Johannes Rosmer (Dudley Powell), and Rebecca West (Meg Bowden), both trained at James Cook University, and are known for their stage work; both gave very sincere and believable performances. Madam Helseth (Alexis Beebe) and Ulric Bredel/ Charles Mortengard (Robert H. Wainwright), complimented the leads, and the energetic and well-spoken Rector Kroll (Silvan Rus). Silvan’s degree from UQ in Philosophy, plus his theatre work, especially with the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, has allowed him to combine his skills, to work on this complex psycho/drama and present it to a Brisbane audience.

As a classic text in today’s fast- paced world of TV and accent on shorter programs, the text is quite long; it needs to be reviewed in places for a modern audience, especially if they’re seated up-right in church pews! However, Ibsen ‘s text has an important message for every audience. This was the inaugural production from this emerging company; an audience can look forward to seeing what may follow from the players at SEERCRAFT Theatre.