In his lecture, Live Hov will show that Ibsen was not only an "author", but also an experienced and conscious theater man. In the first 13 years of his career, he was an instructor and theater director in Bergen and Kristiania, and later he worked as a consultant by correspondence. This was done by sending countless letters to the theaters that were to perform his plays, with specific advice and recommendations about casting and acting style.
Ibsen also placed great emphasis on the visual effects of theatre. Through the plays' many stage directions, he has given clear guidelines for costumes, scenery, sound effects - and movements on stage. There is a stage direction that forms the very end of A Doll's House: "From below is heard the rumbling of a gate, which is being locked". With this sound effect, both the readers and the audience in the theatre are assured that Nora is actually leaving her husband and children.
Live Hov is professor emerita in theatre studies at the universities of Oslo and Copenhagen. She originally trained as an actress at the Norwegian State Theatre School and has published several books and a number of articles about women as roles and actors in theatre history. She has also taught and written about Ibsen, including in the book "Med fuld natursandhet". Henrik Ibsen as a theatre actor.
When
Oct 15, 2026