John Gabriel Borkman

A play by Henrik Ibsen produced by Butterfly Creek Theatre Troupe.

The play takes place in Oslo (then called Christiania) in a wintry landscape that reflects the iciness of Borkman’s relationships. Borkman, played by Barry Mawer, is a corrupt and disgraced banker, who embezzled depositors’ funds to invest in a failed mining venture. He has been back home for eight years after serving 5 years in prison, but has imprisoned himself upstairs. His wife Gunhild (Sandra Gillespie), who has not seen him for years, hears only his pacing. His only visitors are his clerk Foldal, (Peter Baldock) and Foldal’s daughter Frida (Rhiannon Bertaud-Gander) who plays the piano to soothe him.

Borkman is unrepentant and vain, and waits to be vindicated. “The only person I sinned against was myself,” he protests. He craves economic power - power to build mines, railways and shipping lines, which he believes would bring happiness to many - so much that he sacrifices morality, reputation, and everyone he loves to this desire. He has loved, not his wife Gunhild but her sister Ella (Florence McFarlane) who he betrays in his lust for power. The penultimate scene is a tussle between the sisters for the love of Borkman’s son Erhart (Laurence Ward) who rejects them both for his love for Mrs Wilton (Elspeth Cotsilinis).

Promo video: http://vimeo.com/45163079