Drama by acclaimed Swedish author who inspired Hedda Gabler and Miss Julie makes long overdue US premiere.
June 28 - July 22 at HERE
Ducdame Ensemble will present the long-overdue US Premiere of Victoria Benedictsson’s 1887 Swedish classic, THE ENCHANTMENT. This English translation and adaptation by Tommy Lexen will be directed by Lucy Jane Atkinson. Previews begin June 28 at HERE with opening slated for July 6.
THE ENCHANTMENT revolves around Louise, a young woman from rural Sweden, who arrives in Paris at the height of the Belle Époque. Swept up in all this magical world has to offer, she soon falls under the spell of the city’s most revered sculptor. Torn between liberation and tradition, fantasy and reality, Louise begins to question whether the life she has always known is really the life she wants to live.
Victoria Benedictsson (1850 - 1888), groundbreaking Swedish novelist and playwright who wrote under the pen name Ernst Ahlgren, was the real life inspiration for both Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and Strindberg's Miss Julie. Stuck in an unhappy marriage, she had a scandalous affair with a high-profile Danish critic, which led to her suicide soon after completing THE ENCHANTMENT. Contemporary critics view her as an early feminist; her novels often depict inequality of marriage and many of her works include women's rights issues. Widely known in Sweden, her work has rarely been translated into English; THE ENCHANTMENT didn't make its UK premiere until 2007.
THE ENCHANTMENT stars Fiona Mongillo, Matthew DeCapua, Michael J. Connolly, Claire Curtis-Ward, Paul Herbig, Ariana Karp, Jane May, and Nicholas Koy Santillo. The production team includes Adrienne Carlile (costumes), Mary Hamrick (set), Morgan Zipf-Meister (lighting), Chiara Johnson (stage manager).
Acclaimed British director Lucy Jane Atkinson will make her New York debut with THE ENCHANTMENT. She most recently directed the award-winning production of Tristan Bernays’ TESTAMENT at the Vault Festival in London. Her other UK directing credits include Nathan Wood’s ROCKS (Arcola), Camilla Whitehill’s 1001 (Southwark Playhouse), James Hamilton’s THE LOST ART OF LOST ART (Edinburgh Fringe), as well as serving as Assistant Director for Les Enfant Terribles’ Olivier Nominated ALICE’S ADVENTURES UNDERGROUND. In 2015, Atkinson was selected for the Old Vic’s 12 directors "Longlist," and she is a 2014 graduate of LAMDA’s Post Graduate Director’s course.
Known for productions that draw attention to currently relevant themes in classic texts, Ducdame Ensemble was founded by graduates from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). The Ensemble’s inaugural US production in 2015, a new adaptation of Lope de Vega’s FUENTE OVEJUNA, received a FringeNYC Overall Excellence Award. Their 2016 partnership with the International Shakespeare Center Santa Fe produced the world premiere of DAMES OF THRONES, THE WOMEN OF SHAKESPEARE’S HISTORIES; as well as THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, and an immersive TWELFTH NIGHT. THE ENCHANTMENT has already been awarded grants from the Swedish Arts Council and the American-Scandinavian Foundation. Ducdame Ensemble can be found online at ducdameensemble.com and on Twitter @DucdameEnsemble.
THE ENCHANTMENT is part of SubletSeries@HERE, a curated rental program which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment as well as technical support.
THE ENCHANTMENT runs June 28 - July 22, Wednesday - Saturday at 6:30pm. Performances are at HERE, located at 145 Sixth Avenue, NY, NY 10013. (Enter on Dominick, 1 block south of Spring). For tickets and information, visit here.org or call 212-352-3101.