Posterity by Doug Wright continues Fri., May 16 and Saturday, May 17, at 7 pm at the Tennessee Rep Rehearsal Hall (NPT Studio A, 161 Rains Ave.).
Posterity focuses on the final days of the Father of Modern Drama, Henrik Ibsen, as he tries to hide the ravages of his latest stroke from the sculpture fashioning his statue. Before the first sitting with Gustav Vigeland, Henrik Ibsen suffered, unknown to the sculptor, from a serious stroke and found himself facing the terrible spectre of his own mortality. Ibsen struggles to maintain dignity and a façade of normality throughout subsequent sessions.
Vigeland approached the commission warily because of Ibsen’s cantankerous reputation. He is mitigated by the prestige of creating a permanent bust of Ibsen for the city of Oslo, knowing that the success of the Ibsen bust would immortalize both the author and the creator of the bust. But during the sessions, both men jockey for their place in history’s cannon. Both men hope to achieve posterity via the other.
Tony and Pulitzer-winning playwright Doug Wright’s Posterity is an exploration of the last days of Henrik Ibsen’s life and the complicated relationship between Ibsen and Vigeland—Vigeland at the peak of his career, Ibsen at the end of his.
General admission tickets are $10 per evening for the festival ($5 for students and actors with proper ID). VIP seating is available for $20. Free for 2013-14 Tennessee Rep subscribers, reservations are still encouraged.
