Court Theatre Presents LADY FROM THE SEA Review – Water Rules in Ibsen Revival

Directed by Shana Cooper and choreographed by Erika Chong Shuch, the production begins with actors
conjuring the sea through undulating movements and lighting that creates shadows on both sides of
their bodies. Then, the central character Ellida drifts like a mermaid behind an upstage glass panel. The
gasp-worthy image conveys Ellida’s fantastical connection to water, one that separates her from the
people in her life.

Domestic Dysfunction at Court Theatre

Lady from the Sea’s plot is grounded in the social realism associated with Ibsen’s other plays. In a tiny village on the shore of a Norwegian fjord, Dr. Edvard Wangel lives with two daughters from his first wife, who died when their girls were young, and his current wife Ellida. They, too, experienced loss – a son who died in infancy. Ellida has been unhappy and detached ever since.  

This viewer was carried along by the naturalistic scenes when the characters’ desires clashed with their confining circumstances. Cooper and Shuch’s stylized, choreographed interludes did not have as strong an impact. The scenic design, too, was puzzling. The sliding glass panels that gave such a magical glimpse of Ellida suspended in water in the prologue later served mostly as a prosaic doorway. 
For those seeking an introduction to this seldom-seen work and two more Ibsen women who push societal boundaries, the able cast makes it well worth a visit to Court Theatre, in this writer’s opinion. Chaon Cross as Ellida manages to be both ethereal and intense; Gregory Linington as Wangel, so wrapped up in his wife that he is blind to his daughter’s needs, inspires sympathy; and Tanya Thai McBridge as Bolette and Samuel Taylor as her much-older suitor Arnholm, become a compelling pair.