Ibsen says there's no place like 'Romersholm'

JULIA TIERNAN/YH John Rosmer (Maxmillian Ventilla, DC '02, right) must retain his poise when his friends reject him.

Few fates seem less desirable than being trapped in an Ibsen play. Invariably, against a backdrop of Norwegian middle-class respectability, his heroes and heroines break from the status quo, only to end up crashing back down again. Not to say that Ibsen is predictable. On the contrary, he always fills his plays with characters of remarkable complexity--manipulators of all moral shades imaginable. The true art of his plays lies not in the inevitable ending, but in how we get there.

Rosmersholm follows all of these basic tenets of Ibsen's writing, and the result is impressive. Granted, the road from start to finish is a long, convoluted one (Rosmersholm runs about two-and- a-half hours), and the revelations that occur throughout the play can leave the viewer feeling disoriented and even bored. Still, Lars Hellebust's production of this piece is managed skillfully enough to hold one's attention up until its tragic conclusion.

At the center of the story is John Rosmer (Maximilian Ventilla, DC '02), a former parson in a small Norwegian town. His quiet household is populated by Mrs. Helseth, a housekeeper (Jennifer Harris, ES '99), and a relatively new arrival in the town, Rebecca West (Anna M. Carlson,
DC '99). Of course, the play wastes no time in hinting at
the many mysteries that lurk under the surface of this quiet country setting. Numerous allusions are made to the death of Rosmer's wife, Beata. A visit to the Rosmer household by John Kroll (Jens Cremer, PC '01), headmaster
of the local school and the dead Beata's brother, soon lays
bare the political divisions that seem to be tearing
apart the town.

Torn between Kroll's old-guard conservatism and his own leanings towards the radical concepts of atheism and free thought, Rosmer ends up alienating his former friends while the mysterious West pulls unseen strings and leads him further away from respectability. The play subtly shifts gears in the third of its four acts, however, and West becomes a character of increasing complexity, as the text digs deeper into her own past and her relationship with Rosmer.

The characters are brought to life by solid actors, who all deliver fine performances. Cremer plays Dr. Kroll with a smoldering rigidity that, while offputting at first, soon becomes a very adept embodiment of the unyielding conservative. Ventilla makes a fine Rosmer, giving his character dignity and poise even in the face of his former friends' rejection of him, while Jason Sell, TC '02, as Rosmer's former mentor, and Jennifer Harris, DC '99, as the aging Mrs. Helseth, never cross the border too far into stereotype.

Carlson's interpretation of West is especially successful. The role is particularly difficult, as the character tries to cope with a guilty past and a variety of troubling memories, but Carlson delivers with impressive expression. Equally noteworthy is Ambjorn Elder, TC '02, whose short but captivating performance as the radical leader Peter Mortensgaard is one of the production's high points.

Hellebust's directorial talents are evident throughout the show, although a few moments are particularly effective. During the first political volley between Kroll and Rosmer, the two men confront each other stage left, while West stands off to the right, unobtrusively setting the table and occasionally putting in her two cents. Although she seems to be a non-participant in the confrontation between the two men, her comments end up shaping the argument, revealing in one small moment how subtly but effectively she dominates the Rosmer household. Rosmer is never, in the actual text, left on his own, but at the beginning of Act Two Hellebust has him sitting on his own, playing chess against himself. The look of contentment on Rosmer's face as he enjoys this moment of peace, unaffected by the whims and urges of those around him, is priceless.

The artistic direction of this production of Rosmersholm works hard to counteract the less-than-ideal space in which it is performed. Frederick Tang's, DC '99, set is nicely put together; cramped wooden furniture helps preserve the Ros-mer house's pretensions of respectability, as do
the elegant costumes of Samantha Gian, DC '99. The elaborate backdrop of white screens effectively conveys theNordic frigidity, but one wonders if a few more shadows and nooks in the walls wouldn't have been more appropriate for a play haunted by suppressed secrets and ghosts from the past.

Although Rosmersholm is not a play for the easily distracted, this production does ample justice to Ibsen's work. Where the dialogue or plot fails to grasp the spectator, the competence of the cast and crew more than makes up
for it. Undeniably, Ibsen allows himself some fits of long-windedness, but the haunting portrait of human unsettlement that eventually emerges makes this play a startlingly beautiful work, and one well worth attending.

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