“IBSEN MIXED WITH SIMON STONE EQUALS HEAVY YET INSPIRED BEAUTY”

Walking in to the Heath Ledger Theatre, we debated over what the giant glass enclosure was for. To keep in the duck? To keep out the public? Was there going to be one of those competitions where audience members stand inside and jump wildly around for wind blown cash?

Turns out it was for less practical reasons and more philosophical.

The vast, reflective box sat slightly askew in the middle of the stage for Australian writer Simon Stone’s radical adaption of “The Wild Duck” – a reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s 19th century classic as performed by Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre and directed by Wendy Martin.

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On flashed the lights and we were greeted with a solitary wild duck who was in turn met with gasps from the audience as she waddled brazenly around. Suddenly we were flung back into the darkness and two mounted televisions above the stage displayed the day and time as the show began.

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Quintessential family the Edkal’s are ripped at the seams by the return of Gregers Werle – an old friend with unfinished business, back for his father’s wedding – and a dark secret that rocks their foundation. Enduring, clichéd subjects of modern theatre are artistically portrayed; old friendships, clashes between father and son, divorce, marriage, dealing with dementia and the firmness of class difference. The vacuous glass room positions us as observers, sampling pieces of family dysfunction and deception, becoming increasingly privy to more of the narrative and the interrelated characters that weaves it together. Similarly, these characters appeared entombed in the cage, resigned to their fate.

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An ominous string arrangement ends each scene, turning the innocent lines into climactic Hitchcockian thrillers. Equally refined acting drew more complex characters from their archetypes.

The classical music progressed into death metal, disturbing the comfortable rhythm and our expectations. Volatile white light replaced the original warm yellows and smooth conventional scene changes became an unbroken course of separate scenes taking place in the floodlit box. The time display was our only consistent reminder of their separation. As the pace accelerated, the plot thickened and secrets were exposed.

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We were helpless onlookers to the modern tragedy as the action escalated, one significant event evolving into another. We struggle with the unbearable truths as much as they do, though not from behind inescapable glass. However, Ibsen’s traditional realism is juxtaposed with the new narrative to startling effect as it fuses seamlessly together.

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Small human moments pulled together adding value where the original lacked. Anthony Phelan (Hjalmar’s father) battling with the flailing duck when they were supposed to leave quietly reminded the audience of the unpredictability of wild animals and the importance of leaving things where they belong. Gina Ekdal’s audible sneeze and unavoidable hiccups as she lay resigned in the feotal position ricocheted in the chests of mirrored guilty parties sitting in the crowd. Her shallow breathing echoed through the hall before her microphone was finally switched off and she became the silent figure of emotion as scripted and we carried her sadness with us.

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When the broken Ekdals meet on the street, outside the box that imprisoned and protected them, their heartbreaking need for each other in its impossibility is unbearable. Afterwards, we sat in darkness, allowed only the sound of Hjalmar’s eternal breathing before the eruption of applause.

As the Perth International Arts Festival’s website exclaims, “Every theatre person needs a little Ibsen injection every now and again” and Stone produces an intelligent, undeniably authentic dialogue upon his stage. He presents realistically imperfect characters at their most exposed and at the height of their greatest challenge. His piece is emotional and exposes simultaneously the magnificence of tragic theatre and the power in representation. “The Wild Duck” is a play that will inspire reflection on the way you live and make you feel dizzy at theatre’s power.

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Image credit: "Anthony Phelan & Anita Hegh in The Wild Duck, 2011" Heidrun Lohr