Welsh writer and director Simon Harris, and LUCID Theatre Company are currently presenting Little Wolf, a major new version of Ibsen’s Little Eyolf, in Wales this autumn. The production which opened at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff on October 20 will also tour to Swansea, Brecon, Newport, Mold, before concluding in Bangor on November 25.
The story follows Rita and Alfred, who are haunted by a sense of responsibility for the disability of their nine-year-old son, Wolf, following an accident. Wolf’s subsequent disappearance, along with Alfred’s feelings for his half-sister Asta, yields a tornado of mutual recrimination.
Rita and Alfred blame each other 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?
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.
“I came across Little Eyolf when I was in my twenties,” says Simon, “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.”
LITTLE WOLF WELSH TOUR 2017
- CHAPTER ARTS CENTRE, CARDIFF October 20–21, 23–28 7.30pm chapter.org 029 2030 4400
- VOLCANO THEATRE, SWANSEA November 01–04 + 07–11 7.30pm volcanotheatre.co.uk 01792 464 790 02
- THEATR BRYCHEINIOG BRECON November 16 7.30pm & 17 Nov 2.00pm brycheiniog.co.uk 01874 611 622
- THE RIVERFRONT NEWPORT November 22 7.45pm newportlive.co.uk/riverfront 01633 656757
- THEATR CLWYD MOLD November 13 – 14 7.45pm theatrclwyd.com 01352 701521
- PONTIO BANGOR November 24 – 25 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.