About the Show

A revival of the 1896 drama about the dark side of capitalism by Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen.

Powerful capitalist, John Gabriel Borkman, experiences a steep fall from grace when he is convicted of fraud. Eight years later, Borkman is released from prison and dreams of making a grand return.

Written by acclaimed major playwright of the nineteenth century, Henrik Ibsen whose plays are known for exploring morality in realistic middle-class settings. Ibsen's other notable works include 'A Doll's House', 'Hedda Gabler' and 'Peer Gynt'.

Simon Russell Beale ('The Lehman Trilogy') stars in the title role of Ibsen's penultimate play.

Critic Reviews (8)

"It’s an eccentric play, and undeniably less ‘important’ feeling than Ibsen’s prodigious greatest hits. ... It has a whipsmart humour and wonderful momentum to it"
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"Sour, regretful Ibsen still has much to tell us about the human cost of success – but his grim tidings need lustier pickaxe strokes."
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"It’s right that we don’t feel unearned sympathy for these characters: wrong that we feel no convincing human connection with them at all."
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"It's a strange, provoking play, full of difficult emotions and fierce feeling...its re-emergence here, at this time, feels doubly apt, as if by its very bleakness it brings a little light of insight."
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"The play only lasts an hour and three quarters, without an interval, yet feels longer."
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"Ultimately a production which reminds us of the exciting potential for theatre to turn the old inside out, and make new, if it dares to."
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"... Nicholas Hytner’s production is glacially elegant. There are bouts of sour humour, and the mood is of a game of cat’s cradle with razor wire."
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"Lighting and sound come into play effectively for the characters’ climactic venture into a winter as cold as their hearts."
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Cast and creative team

Author of Original Book