Little Eyolf

“Little Eyolf loses nothing for being presented with minimal props. [...] What is remarkable is the fluid choreography that Tveit has brought to the play. Within a constricted space, the six actors manage to suggest the picture of the house by the fjord, the jetty and the horror of the drowned Eyolf’s eyes staring out from under the water. [...] Eyolf is played by a lanky giant, Xavier Williams, who stays on stage throughout, the personification of the Allmers’ guilt. Similarly the Rat-Wife, unusually soft and elegant in Rosalind Stockwell’s interpretation, sits in a corner and surveys the situation, a sad, knowing smile on her face.”

“The Norwegian director, Terje Tveit, should not be underestimated, and given its limited resources, the Dale Teater Kompani [Ibsen Stage Company] has made significant steps towards making this sometimes metaphorically clunking play into an accessible and bracing piece of theatre - an interesting version of one of Ibsen’s lesser-known dramas.”

“The adaptation keeps all the characters on the freshly painted white stage at all times. As a way station between the play’s well-made mechanics and folk-myth leanings, it works fine. [...] Tom Peters is a young Alfred, but has an unforced vulnerability that contrasts well with Sarah Head’s magnificent, disappointed Rita. [...] This production is a pacey proof that Ibsen’s understanding of people, and the desperate things they do in the search for fulfilment, can outshine the gloom.”

“Some deep thought has gone into the play’s rendering. Even at its most distressing, it has a dreamy quality. Soft blues descend on the scene and bleak piano music fades in. At times the characters move around the stage with the graceful reserve of ballet dancers. A footbridge placed over the centre has the actors walking down unseen corridors and paths, creating a sense of space where there was none, and leaving the leads talking side by side, but poignantly facing opposite directions.”