Jon R. Skulberg's The Lady from the Sea has brought Henrik Ibsen's characters into our own times, a time where you can measure antidepressant medication in the drinking water and where depression is a public disease. The longing for freedom has turned into a longing for death, and hopelessness has replaced the belief in adventure. But perhaps there is still a little hope left, when you let go of your secrets and stick to the conversation.
Ibsen never goes out of fashion. We learn something about being human, a form of comfort and understanding for life.

In our version, Ellida lives in a small town deep in a fjord with his wife, the doctor Wangel, and her daughter Hilde from a previous relationship. Here Ellida hides a secret, - and with the consequences of the choices you make for yourself and others.

Ellida has never let go of the depression that gripped her as a youngster. After she and Wangel lost their newborn child a few years ago, depression has bitten into her again. Now she longs for death. It is in this state that we meet Ellida.
When Wangel, as a solution to her discouragement, suggests that they should move out to sea again, she opens up about how she feels. For the first time, she lets someone into the darkness she finds herself in.

Can Wangel and Hilde bring her back to life with them? Do you have the right to take your own life if the pain is too great? Or do you have a duty to stay alive for those you love? What does self-determination and free will mean to man?
The lady from the sea is a collaboration between Nordland Teater and Convoi Exceptionnel.

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All photos: Louise Herrche Serup

Text: Henrik Ibsen, Inger Christensen, Michel Houellebecq and Virginia Woolf
Script: Astrid Hansen Holm og Jon R. Skulberg
Stage direction and light design: Jon R. Skulberg
Scenography and Costumedesign: Maja Ziska
Actors: Kirsti Torhaug, Anne E. Kokkinn, Linda Brean Mathisen, Anne Wiig and Sven Johannessønn Henriksen
Dramaturgy: Astrid Hansen Holm
Composer and sound designer: Julie Østengaard
Photos: Louise Herrche Serup

Head of production: Per Rasmussen
Stage manager and tourmanager: Wenche Bakken
Costume maker: Halvard Leirvik
Props: Sissel Heien, Grete Larssen and Mariann Rostad
Make-up: Tove Solbakk
Carpenter: Magne Jøsevold
Blacksmith: Herlof Øverdal
Sound technician: Frode Fridtjofsen
Light technician and programmer: Vegar Angel N. Andreassen
Tour planner: Jim Ove Marthinussen
Marketing: Trine Rimer, Tina Ditlefsen, Hilde Karin Skreslett, Tove Hovind and Yngvild Keilen