John Gabriel Borkman
by Henrik Ibsen
Chapter 1 of 4 Act 1
- Running time
- 2 h 21 min
- Language
- English
- Readers
- Alan Mapstone, Amanda Friday, Arielle Lipshaw, Availle, Bruce Pirie and 4 others
- Translated by
- William Archer
Chapters
About this recording
John Gabriel Borkman is the penultimate play of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, written in 1896. The Borkman family fortunes have been brought low by the imprisonment of John Gabriel who used his position as a bank manager to illegally speculate with his investors' money. The action of the play takes place eight years after Borkman's release when John Gabriel Borkman, Mrs. Borkman, and her twin sister Ella Rentheim battle over the future of young Erhart Borkman. Though John Gabriel Borkman continues the line of naturalism and social commentary that marks Ibsen's middle period, the final act suggests a new phase for the playwright, a phase brought to fruition in his final more symbolic work When We Dead Awaken. (Summary by Wikipedia)
Cast
John Gabriel Borkman: Bruce Pirie
Mrs. Gunhild Borkman: Arielle Lipshaw
Erhart Borkman: Ernst Pattynama
Ella Rentheim: Elizabeth Klett
Mrs. Fanny Wilton: Availle
Vilhelm Foldal: Alan Mapstone
Frida Foldal: Grace Garrett
Mrs. Borkman's Maid: Amanda Friday
Narrator: Robin King
Audio edited by Elizabeth Klett