(Alfred Hickling’s article appeared in the Guardian, 5/4.)
Ibsen seems to be a playwright of two halves, with a career that conveniently breaks down into a couple of distinct periods. First came the epic folklorist behind Peer Gynt; later the austere moralist who produced naturalistic dramas such as Ghosts, The Wild Duck and An Enemy of the People. The oppositions are clearly defined: nature versus naturalism; woods and mountains versus dark, bourgeois parlours; trolls versus town councillors.