First at Bergen and then at the Norwegian Theatre in Christiania, Henrik Ibsen worked as a director and playwright, trying to create a “national drama.” His early plays were unsuccessful, and the Norwegian Theatre went bankrupt. He left Norway in 1864 and wrote most of his best work in the 27 years he lived abroad.
What was Henrik Ibsen’s occupation?
Why is Henrik Ibsen important?
Henrik Ibsen was a major Norwegian playwright of the late 19th century who introduced to the European stage realistic contemporary plays that set out to expose social evils. He wrote plays about ordinary people, but from them he elicited insights of devastating directness, great subtlety, and occasional flashes of rare beauty.