Welsh writer and director Simon Harris, and LUCID Theatre Company presents Little Wolf, a major new version of Ibsen’s Little Eyolf, in Wales this Autumn. The production opens at Chapter in Cardiff on 20 October and tours to Swansea, Brecon, Newport, Mold, and concludes in Bangor on 25 November.
Though generally regarded as one of Ibsen’s finest plays, it is rarely seen on the UK stage. Little Wolf resets the classic in the present-day and is created by award-winning writer and director Simon Harris.
Simon Harris, Writer and Director said “I came across Little Eyolf when I was in my twenties. It had such a mesmerising and powerful effect on me that I never forgot it. People who saw the 1982 BBC TV ‘Play of the Month’, starring Anthony Hopkins, Peggy Ashcroft and Diana Rigg loved it.”
Simon said of the re-imagining “We want to reclaim the urgent relevance of the play for the present through a radical act of re-imagining. The anxieties and challenges of parenthood, the agency of women, the welfare of children and the experience of loss are all profoundly contemporary concerns.”
Rita and Alfred are haunted by a sense of responsibility for the physical disability of their nine-year-old son, Wolf, who suffered an accident while they were in the very ecstasy of passion. Wolf’s subsequent disappearance and death, along with the discovery of Alfred’s love for his supposed half-sister, yields a tornado of mutual recrimination.
Rita and Alfred blame each other for the child’s death but, having finally acknowledged the bitter truths about their marriage, they achieve an uneasy resolution.
Is their love too fragile to survive? As their worlds fracture and collide, what is worth holding on to?
This is a production that is an intense and compelling chamber drama. It is driven by emotions that are passionate and visceral while drawing an audience deep into the heart of the Allmers’ world. It is shocking, hopeful and blisteringly funny. Little Wolf is a play that will leave you wanting to discover more.
CARDIFF:
CHAPTER, 20–21; 23–28 Oct, 7.30pm chapter.org, 029 2030 4400
SWANSEA:
VOLCANO THEATRE, 01–04; 07–11 Nov 7.30pm, volcanotheatre.co.uk, 01792 464 790 02
BRECON:
THEATR BRYCHEINIOG, 16 Nov ,7.30pm & 17 Nov, 2.00pm, brycheiniog.co.uk, 01874 611 622
NEWPORT:
THE RIVERFRONT, 22 Nov, 7.45pm, newportlive.co.uk/riverfront
01633 656757
MOLD:
THEATR CLWYD, 13 – 14 Nov, 7.45pm, theatrclwyd.com, 01352 701521
BANGOR:
PONTIO, 24 – 25, Nov 7.30pm, pontio.co.uk, 01248 38 28 28
CAPTIONED PERFORMANCES:
One performance at each venue on the tour will feature captions for d/Deaf and hard of hearing patrons. Please contact the individual venues directly for Captioned Performance details.