Rosmersholm

Recommended by

4 May 2019 · Follow on Stagedoor

“Ian Rickson’s handsome, high end revival, starring Hayley Atwell and Tom Burke is always interesting without ever quite being invigorating, as it is hard to feel emotional investment in Rebecca and Rosmer’s relationship. They are both individually very good but together they never crackle. I really do love Duncan Macmillan’s new version which is direct and arresting without drawing undue attention to itself – but the real marvels here are Rae Smith’s design and Neil Austin’s lighting. Quite honestly, I could have very happily spent the entire two and half hours watching the light fall through the windows that overlook the mill race What lingers from this fiercely intelligent but emotionally uninvolving evening is not the pain of the living but the presence of the dead. A light lingers on an empty chair, magnifying absence; a curtain blows. Those are the moments when you lean forward.”

Best of the West End

16 April 2019 · Follow on Stagedoor

“It’s not hard to see why people are excited about this. The cast is led by two of British theatre's most talented actors, Tom Burke & Hayley Atwell, and Ibsen's script has been adapted by the writer (Duncan Macmillan) who’s responsible for some the West End's biggest hits of the last few years; including ‘1984’ and ‘People, Places, Things’. With gorgeous design and a flush of good reviews to boot, if you like classic theatre this is not one to be missed.”

Overview

An election looming. A country on the brink. A rabid press baying for blood. At the centre of the storm is Rosmersholm, the grand house of an influential dynasty. This is where the future will be decided by John Rosmer – a man torn between the idealised hope of the future and the ghosts of his past.

‘Ibsen’s masterpiece’ (Michael Billington, 2008) is a twisting thriller and stars two electrifying actors in the leading roles. Tom Burke (Strike, The Musketeers) is the soulful Rosmer haunted by history and tradition. Hayley Atwell (Howards End, Captain America) is Rebecca West, one of Ibsen’s greatest heroines. Enigmatic and unpredictable, free-spirited Rebecca brings the winds of change to Rosmersholm with the force of a hurricane.

Rosmersholm is the tenth collaboration between Sonia Friedman Productions and director Ian Rickson (including The Birthday Party, Mojo, Old Times, Betrayal, Jerusalem) and marks a second time working with award-winning writer and director Duncan Macmillan, who previously collaborated with Sonia Friedman Productions on the West End and Broadway run of 1984, which he co-adapted/co-directed with Robert Icke. His other plays include People Places and Things which enjoyed huge success in London and New York.

Critic reviews

Hayley Atwell gives a rich performance in a production of Ibsen's resonant play

⋅ The Stage

Hayley Atwell and Tom Burke help give Ibsen a grippingly modern resonance

⋅ The Telegraph

The politics are bang up to date in a drama in which passions are raging over equality, free thought and even democracy

⋅ The Times

The detail of the playing and the flair of the staging – the ending is as brilliant as it is shocking – make a strong case for this play and its heady mix of sex and politics

⋅ WhatsOnStage

The personal and the political collide on an epic scale

⋅ London Theatre

The political truths of this classic play are at times quite stunningly relevant today

⋅ London Box Office

Hayley Atwell and Tom Burke smoulder in absorbing Ibsen revival

⋅ Evening Standard

Both Atwell and Terera are hugely watchable, and there is plenty in the debate around the manipulation of news and the suspicion of politicians that chimes with the British political scene today

Lyn Gardner for Stagedoor

Duncan Macmillan’s deft but daring tweaks underline the majesty of this sexually charged study of faith and heartbreak

⋅ The Guardian

Hayley Atwell steals the show in this strange, timely Ibsen obscurity

⋅ Time Out

Ibsen’s drama is given sharp contemporary relevance in this staging

⋅ Financial Times

The best bits of Rosmersholm are very, very good

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