Ibsen In an Hour »

Rick Davis is Artistic Director of Theater of the First Amendment, Associate Provost, and Professor of Theater at George Mason University. He was cofounder and Associate Director of the American Ibsen Theater in Pittsburgh. With Brian Johnston, he has translated five Ibsen plays that have seen many major productions and are published by Smith and Kraus. Rick was educated at Lawrence University (B.A.) and the Yale School of Drama (M.F.A., D.F.A.).

Brian Johnston has taught at several prestigious universities around the world and currently is retired (emeritus). He has published three critical studies of Ibsen. He has lectured on Ibsen extensively in the United States and internationally. Four volumes of his translations have been published by Smith and Kraus. You may read extensively about Brian Johnston on his web site at www.ibsenvoyages.com.

In 1850, Henrik Ibsen arrived in Christiania (now Oslo), hoping to begin his university education. Yet something else lay in store for the twenty-two-year-old. Failing his exams in Greek and Arithmetic, he soon moved to Bergen to become "dramatic author" at the new Norwegian theatre there. The rebellious young Ibsen was unsatisfied with the conventional "well-made plays" of his time —- calling them "daily abortions." Instead of conforming to that standard, Ibsen began forging his own plays that launched nineteenth-century drama into the modern world.

Setting the playwright in context to his personal life, social, historical and political events, other writers of influence, and more, you will quickly gain a deep understanding of Ibsen and the plays he wrote. Read Ibsen in an Hour and experience his plays like never before. Know the playwright, love the play!

The book features:

• Ibsen in an Hour, the main essay of the book

• Ibsen In a Minute, a snapshot chronology

• A complete listing of Ibsen's work

• A list of Ibsen's contemporaries in all fields

• Excerpts from Ibsen's significant works

• An extensive bibliography grouped according to type of reader

• An index of the main essay.

Playwrights in an Hour is a series devoted to the most produced and studied playwrights in the English language, from the Greek masters to contemporary writers, and written by leading authorities in the field. Each short book places the playwright and his or her work in historical, social, and literary context.

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