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Design by Nikki Delhomme
A Noise
Within
Study
Guide
Ghosts
California’s Home for the Classics
A Noise Within’s 2008/2009
Season of Awakenings!
California’s Home for the Classics
Table of Contents
3 Cast of Characters
4-5Synopsis
6-7
A Biography of Henrik Ibsen
8Timeline of Ibsen’s World
9-10
A Conversation with Controversy
11-12
Realism: A Shocking Event in its Time
13 English Language Arts
14-15
Visual Arts: Creating the World of Ghosts
16 Edvard Munch and Ghosts
17
Music: The Norwegian Hardanger Fiddle
18 Resources
19 About Theatre Arts
20 About A Noise Within
Design by Nikki Delhomme
Portions of this guide reprinted with permission of the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Education Department,
from their First Folio Teacher Curriculum Guide: An Enemy of the People, 2006.
Funding for A Noise Within’s Educational Programs is provided in part by:
The Ahmanson Foundation, Alliance for the Advancement of Arts Education, Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich,
Employees Community Fund of Boeing California, The Capital Group Companies, Citigroup Foundation,
Disney Worldwide Outreach, DLA Piper, Doukas Family Foundation, Ellingsen Family Foundation, The Green Foundation,
Kiwanis Club of Glendale, Lockheed Federal Credit Union, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, B.C. McCabe Foundation,
Metropolitan Associates, National Endowment for the Arts, Shakespeare for a New Generation, The Steinmetz Foundation,
Dwight Stuart Youth Foundation, Waterman Foundation.
2 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
Cast of Characters
Mrs. Helena Alving
Lives with her maidservant, Regina, in a mansion in
Norway’s countryside. She married her late husband,
Captain Alving, at her relatives’ suggestion and
endured his infidelity for years. Their son, Oswald,
was sent away to attend school. A free-thinking
woman, Mrs. Alving reads so-called scandalous texts
and has managed Captain Alving’s business affairs
by herself since his death. Her current project is the
building of a large orphanage, dedicated to Captain
Alving.
Pastor Manders
A well-respected and influential local clergyman
from the nearby town. Although he holds strong
beliefs about morality, it is later revealed in the play
that he and Mrs. Alving may have had an intimate
relationship.
Oswald Alving
Son to Mrs. Alving and the late Captain Alving.
Oswald has recently returned from Europe to spend
the winter at home, caring for his mysteriously fragile
health. His lifestyle in Europe has been somewhat
bohemian, and he has pursued painting as a career.
Oswald clashes over moral issues with Pastor
Manders, and forms a close bond with Regina during
the course of the play.
Regina Engstrand
Mrs. Alving’s maid, believed to be the daughter of
Jakob Engstrand, a carpenter, and Mrs. Alving’s
deceased former maid Joanna. In fact, she is the
illegitimate daughter of Joanna and Captain Alving.
Jakob Engstrand
Engstrand married Joanna when she was pregnant
with Captain Alving’s child. The daughter was
Regina. Engstrand treats Regina as his own, but
struggles with alcoholism. He works as a carpenter at
the orphanage.
Captain Alving
Captain Alving died ten years prior to the start of
the play. He was a very famous man with a good
reputation, and before he died he was made a
chamberlain.
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Theatre Lore
Why are actors called thespians?
In the sixth century B.C., a
Greek chorus performer named
Thespus was the first person in
history to step away from the
chorus and speak by himself,
exchanging dialogue with the
group and impersonating a
character instead of simply
reciting a story as the chorus
had done before then.
Synopsis
ACT ONE
Wealthy widow Helena Alving, at her lavish country estate, makes plans to dedicate an orphanage in honor of
her husband, the late Captain Alving. Her son Oswald
has recently returned from Paris. He is frail, sickly, and
acts strangely. The maid Regina Engstrand, who was
raised by and resides with Mrs. Alving, makes herself
available for Oswald’s every whim as she prepares for
the arrival of Pastor Manders. Regina’s father, Jacob
Engstrand, nurses a developmental foot deformity and
struggles with alcoholism.
The play opens on Regina in the Alving’s sitting room.
Engstrand — who works as a carpenter for the orphanage — comes in out of the rain to speak with his
daughter. Although Regina is Engstrand’s daughter, she
was raised by Mrs. Alving. Regina resists Engstrand,
who clearly desires a closer familial relationship with
his daughter. (In fact, Regina later reveals to Mrs. Alving that she doubts Engstrand is her biological father.)
Engstrand tells Regina that he has saved a small down
payment to open his own business. He plans to run a
boarding house for sailors, and would like to have Regina involved. Engstrand reasons that having the young,
beautiful girl around will make the establishment “...a
little lively in the evenings, with singing and dancing...”
Theatre Lore
Why is it bad luck to say
“Macbeth” inside the theatre?
There are many origins for this superstition.
Old actors believe the witches’ song in
Macbeth to possess the uncanny power
of casting evil spells. The reasons for this
fear usually bring tales of accidents and illfortunes that have plagued productions of
the play throughout the world. An alternative
is that the superstition began in the days of
stock companies, which would struggle to
remain in business. Frequently, near the end
of a season, a company would realize it was
not going to break even, and, in an attempt
to boost ticket sales, would announce the
production of a crowd favorite: Macbeth.
If times were particularly bad, the play
would frequently be a portent of the
company’s demise.
4 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
Pastor Manders enters, and Engstrand leaves. Manders
tries to convince Regina to help Engstrand, while her
concerns lie with her own unspecified plans. Regina
leaves as Mrs. Alving enters. She and Manders discuss
business matters regarding the orphanage, and the
near-miss with fire that occurred the day before. Engstrand was careless with his carpentry materials, and
nearly caused a blaze. Manders attempts to convince
Mrs. Alving that Regina should depart to live with Engstrand, but Mrs. Alving detests the idea.
Oswald enters, and is immediately confronted by
Manders over the bohemian lifestyle he led in Europe.
Oswald, much like the prodigal son, has returned from
his extensive European travels. He has struggled with
illness, and has returned home in the guise of caring for
his health.
He and Manders argue about societal norms—specifically couples that live together and have children out
of wedlock. Oswald’s liberal views place no judgements
on such an arrangement, while Manders cannot possibly
condone any sexual relationship outside of marriage.
Oswald storms out, and Manders admonishes Mrs. Alving for his outspoken views.
The conversation turns to family entanglements –
including their own intimate, possibly sexual relationship, Captain Alving’s infidelity, Mrs. Alving’s embrace
of her own freedom following his death and subsequent management of his business affairs, and Regina’s
parentage. Mrs. Alving reveals to Manders that her
marriage was a false front — and that she sent Oswald
away for school to shield him from the lifestyle Captain
Alving led. “Throughout our entire married life —19
years — he was just as lecherous and debauched as he
was on the day of our wedding,” she claims.
Furthermore, Mrs. Alving reveals that Regina is the
illegitimate child of Captain Alving and the former maid
of the house, Joanna. Engstrand is Regina’s father in
name only, and is most likely aware of Regina’s parentage. Mrs. Alving gave Joanna 1200 kroner in order to
try to make amends for her misfortune — which she
brought to Engstrand in an effort to convince him to
marry her despite her pregnancy. Mrs. Alving took over
the Captain’s business affairs, and seized control of the
household finances shortly after Joanna’s pregnancy —
an astonishing feat for a late 19th century woman.
Act one ends as Mrs. Alving overhears a scuffle in the
kitchen between Oswald and Regina, which hints at the
possible intimate relationship budding between them.
ACT TWO
Horrified at the possibility that the two half-siblings
Oswald and Regina may develop a sexual relationship,
Manders admonishes Mrs. Alving to keep the pair apart.
However, Mrs. Alving is able to see both sides of the
coin in the affair, and discusses the taboo of unknowing
incest with surprising frankness. She doesn’t approve
of sending Regina to live with Engstrand, especially
knowing him not to be her true father.
Mrs. Alving ponders condoning a marriage between
Oswald and Regina, if it will make them happy. She
reasons that there are many such unions in the world
wherein close relatives intermarry. In a revealing monologue, she tells Manders how seeing Regina and Oswald
together have brought old ghosts of the past to the
forefront of her consciousness.
Engstrand interrupts the conversation, and suggests to
Manders that he hold a prayer meeting at the orphanage. The Pastor pounces, asking Engstrand to clear
his mind for prayer by confessing his true relationship
to Regina. Initially incensed that Engstrand has lied to
him for many years, Manders quickly forgives him after
hearing that Engstrand spent every penny of the money
Joanna carried with her on Regina’s upbringing.
Engstrand exits. Mrs. Alving attempts to kiss Manders,
but he resists, and leaves abrubtly. Discovering that
Oswald is still in the house, Mrs. Alving joins him in the
dining room. Oswald, clearly in a state of preoccupation, informs his mother that he has something important to tell her. He reveals that his state of fatigue is a
diagnosed illness — and not one from which he is likely
to recover. After suffering for some time from tremendous headaches, he consulted a doctor in Europe who
informed him that, “You’ve inherited a worm of disease
in your body from before you were born.” After implying that the source of Oswald’s illness lies with the “sins
of the fathers,” Oswald staunchly defends his father’s
reputation. Regina enters, and Oswald describes how
bedazzled by her he has become. She joins them for a
drink, and Mrs. Alving prepares to tell the pair about
their shared parentage. However, Manders re-enters,
interrupting the trio.
Manders once again pushes Regina to accept
Engstrand’s offer to live with him in town, and she
refuses. Oswald and Regina delight in revealing their
plans of marriage to the astonished Manders and Mrs.
Alving. Horrified, Mrs. Alving resolves to tell the pair
right there on the spot that Captain Alving was father
to them both. She is immediately interrupted by shouts
outside. The orphanage is ablaze. All rush to
the burning building.
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ACT THREE
It is just before dawn that same night. Regina and Mrs.
Alving sit in the parlor, with a clear view of the stillburning building. Mrs. Alving hurries back to the blaze
to bring Oswald his hat. Engstrand and Manders return
to the house, announcing that the orphanage has been
lost to the flames. Engstrand can think of no other
cause for the fire other than the candle that Manders
used in the prayer service. He postulates that there may
be a public outcry against Manders for his carelessness.
Mrs. Alving returns, indicating that Oswald will not
leave until the fire is out. Astonishingly, she claims to be
relieved that the orphanage is a total loss. Having been
freed from the “fraud” of the orphanage built in her late
husband’s honor, Mrs. Alving turns to the matter of how
to dispose of or care for the remaining land. She intends
to sign power of attorney over to Manders, who plans
to depart immediately. Engstrand, however, interjects
that the property would make a perfect location for
his new Seafarer’s Home. Manders is cool to the idea,
until Engstrand mentions the threat of public exposure
for his involvement in the fire. Engstrand offers to take
the blame for the fire in exchange for the property.
Relieved, Manders gratefully accepts Engstrand’s offer,
and they shake hands. Engstrand announces his plan to
call his new business “The Captain Alving Home.”
After Manders and Engstrand depart, Mrs. Alving
finally reveals to Oswald and Regina the exact nature
of Captain Alving’s romantic entanglements — including the affair with Regina’s mother. Regina, shocked
that Oswald is ill and that they share the same father,
resolves to catch the ferry with Manders and live with
him as his maidservant. She rejoices in her newfound
path, and departs.
Oswald, no longer able to cling to the hope that he
once had in Regina, accepts the inevitability of his
waning sanity. He pleads with Mrs. Alving to assist
him in suicide. Suddenly thrown into an illness-induced
loss of reality, Oswald collapses in his chair. Together,
they watch the rising sun as Mrs. Alving searches for
a bottle of pills to aid her son in the final release from
his disease. ❖
Henrik Ibsen: A Biography
Henrik Johan Ibsen was born on March
20, 1828 in the small port town of Skien,
Norway. He was the child of a merchant family
and suffered hardships in his youth when his
father had to give up the family business. At
the age of 15, Ibsen left home to become
the apprentice to a pharmacist and began
writing plays – the first of which, Catiline,
was published under the pseudonym Brynjolf
Bjarme. Catiline was soon followed by The
Burial Mound, Ibsen’s first play to be produced.
Ibsen at age 35, in 1863.
Gyldendal collection, University Library, Oslo.
In 1851, Ibsen moved to Bergen, Norway to
become an assistant at the Norske Teater,
where he wrote and directed plays for the
theatre. In 1857, Ibsen became artistic director
of The Norwegian Theatre in Christiania (now
Oslo), Norway. He subsequently married
Suzannah Thoreson, and they had one son
named Sigurd. However, The Norwegian
Theatre’s bankruptcy in 1862, a series of
disappointments with Norwegian politics and
an unsuccessful writing career led Ibsen to
move his entire family to Italy. He continued to
write plays with environments that were much
more like Norway’s wet climate than the sunny
Mediterranean Italy.
In 1865, he published what is considered his
first major work, Brand. This play was a great
Norwegian success and earned him a state
stipend and financial stability. His success
continued with Peer Gynt, a fantastical verse
drama featuring music composed by Edvard
Grieg. In 1868, Ibsen and his family moved to
Germany, where they lived for many years while
Ibsen wrote the bulk of his major works.
Ibsen was greatly influenced by his mother-inlaw, Magdalene Thoreson, who was a leader of
the feminist movement in Norway. Many of his
Stockmannsgarden, Ibsen’s birthplace in Skien. Ibsen’s house
is the last one on the right, facing the church. 1870.
Gyldendal collection, University Library, Oslo.
6 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
Ibsen’s wife, Suzannah
Thoreson Ibsen, 1876.
Gyldendal collection,
University Library, Oslo.
Ibsen’s Mother-in-law,
Magdalene Thoreson.
Photography collection,
Royal Library,
Copenhagen.
plays contain criticisms of marriage, portraying
dominant, complex female characters who are
trapped by the constraints of strict Victorian
traditions. Plays in this vein include A Doll’s
House (1879), Ghosts (1881) and Hedda Gabler
(1890.) His plays were often controversial,
covering taboo subjects in overt or less explicit
ways. Ghosts stirred considerable public
outcry for its depiction of syphilis. In 1882,
Ibsen wrote An Enemy of the People, partly in
response to the public outcry against A Doll’s
House and Ghosts.
Ibsen’s later plays represented a transition
from his realistic social dramas to more
symbolic and psychological dramas.
These plays include The Wild Duck (1884),
Rosmersholm (1886) and The Lady from the
Sea (1888). As Ibsen’s successful dramatic
career continued, he became a celebrated
figure in Europe. A long black coat and white
muttonchops became Ibsen’s signature and
a frequent subject of caricatures. In 1900,
Ibsen suffered his first stroke, which ended his
writing career. After his death in 1906, a large
funeral procession was mounted in his honor at
the expense of the Norwegian government.
Ibsen is known as the “Father of Modern
Drama.” His plays pioneered realistic
dialogue and characters with psychological
depth on the stage, and gave birth to the
modern movement in drama. Ibsen is also
heralded as the greatest Norwegian author
of all time, and he is considered to be the
most frequently performed dramatist in the
world after Shakespeare. ❖
7 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
PUBLISHED WORKS:
1850 Catiline
1850 The Burial Mound
1852 St. John’s Eve
1854 Lady Inger of Oestraat
1855 The Feast at Solhaug
1856 Olaf Liljekrans
1857 The Vikings at Helgeland
1862 Love’s Comedy
1862 The Pretenders G
1865 Brand
1867 Peer Gynt
1869 The League of Youth
1873 Emperor and Galilean
1877 Pillars of Society
1879 A Doll’s House
1881 Ghosts
1882 An Enemy of the People
1884 The Wild Duck
1886 Rosmersholm
1888 The Lady from the Sea
1890 Hedda Gabler
1892 The Master Builder
1894 Little Eyolf
1896 John Gabriel Borkman
1899 When We Dead Awaken
Timeline of Ibsen’s World
Ibsen’s Life and Works
Political Developments
Scientific/Social Developments
1828 Henrik Ibsen born in Skien,
Norway.
1814 After Napoleon’s defeat, the
European continent is restructured.
Norway gains independence from
Denmark, but soon enters into a
Union with Sweden, subject to their
monarchy.
1831 Electromagnetic current
is discovered, making electric
engines possible.
1864 Disillusioned with Norwegian
politics, Ibsen moves his family to
Italy.
1865 Ibsen writes Brand, his first
major work.
1868 Ibsen family moves to Germany.
1870-1880 Ibsen writes letters to
friends and fellow intellectuals
expressing skepticism about the
calls for democracy in Norway.
1877 Ibsen publishes his first Realist
play, The Pillars of Society. The play
quickly spreads to avantgarde
venues across Europe.
1879 Ibsen publishes A Doll’s House,
first performed in Copenhagen. The
play is met with harsh criticism from
conservatives throughout Europe.
1880 A Doll’s House premieres in
Germany with an alternate ending,
which Ibsen terms “a barbaric
outrage.”
1881 Ibsen publishes Ghosts.
Conservatives and liberals alike
condemn the play, and theatres
across Europe refuse to stage it.
Ibsen feels particularly betrayed by
the Norwegian liberal press, which
had defended him during the
scandal over A Doll’s House.
1882 Ibsen publishes An Enemy of
the People as a reaction to critical
response to Ghosts. The play is
warmly received throughout Europe.
1848 After a series of crop failures
that leave the working classes
starving, Europe is rocked by
revolutions in France, Germany and
Italy. Bourgeois reformers revolt,
calling for social change. Observing
the changing tide in Europe, calls for
democratic reform in Norway
increase.
1864 Prussian-Danish War, a
territorial dispute, begins. To Ibsen’s
dismay, Norway remains neutral,
refusing to support the Danes in the
conflict.
1874-1880 Norwegian political
leaders struggle against the Swedish
monarchy, attempting to gain more
political power for the Storthing, the
Norwegian parliamentary body.
1884 Liberals take control of the
Storthing and impeach the prime
minister. The Swedish monarchy is
forced to recognize Norway’s
parliamentary system.
1905 Norway declares itself
independent from Sweden and the
union is dissolved.
8 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
The Norwegian Theatre in Møllergaden,
Christiania, engraved by L. Kleiser, c. 1860.
1854 First railway line laid in
Norway between Christiania (Oslo)
and Eidsvoll.
1859 Charles Darwin publishes The
Origin of Species, introducing the
concept of evolution and rocking the
scientific and religious worlds.
1876 Alexander Graham Bell invents
the telephone.
1877 Thomas Edison invents the
phonograph.
1879 Thomas Edison develops a
longer lasting electric light bulb.
1896 Sigmund Freud coins the term
“psychoanalysis,” continuing his
research into the unconscious mind.
1908 Henry Ford mass produces
the Model T. ❖
1891 Ibsen family returns to Norway
after 27 years living abroad.
1906 Ibsen dies as a national hero.
1848 Karl Marx publishes The
Communist Manifesto, calling for
Proletariat revolution to eliminate
social classes, and stating that
capitalism is inherently unstable.
1850 Austria and Prussia eliminate
feudalism.
1883-1890
While living in Germany, Ibsen continues to publish successful work, including The Wild Duck, Rosmersholm, The
Lady from the Sea and Hedda Gabler.
1892-1899 Ibsen publishes his last
plays, The Master Builder, Little Eyolf,
John Gabriel Borkman and When We
Dead Awaken.
1837 Samuel Morse invents the
telegraph.
Flag of Norway.
A Conversation with Controversy
Ibsen’s intellectual journey is illuminated by
examining three plays written during a short period of time
— A Doll’s House, Ghosts, and An Enemy of the People.
These pieces contain similar themes, and interweave ideas
of marriage and societal norms, critical or social response to
art, and political scandal. Each was written upon the heels
of the previous play. A Doll’s House caused considerable
uproar when it was first published. This public response led
Ibsen to write Ghosts as a response. Ghosts, in turn, sparked
considerable controversy, and Ibsen quickly wrote An Enemy
of the People out of frustration and defiance.
In A Doll’s House, Ibsen creates the character of Nora Helmer,
a woman trapped in an unfulfilling role in a stifling marriage.
Her husband continually patronizes her and treats her like
a doll. Nora has endured years of blackmail because she
took out an illegal loan to save her husband’s health. While
attempting to keep the blackmail a secret and save her
husband from being dishonored, Nora realizes that she has
never been her own person. She has merely been subjected
to the roles her father and husband have created for her. Nora
asserts her right to her own individuality and decides to leave
her marriage and children to pursue an independent life. Her
husband reels from the decision, and the play ends with “the
slam heard ´round the world”: Nora walks out, slamming the
door behind her.
Henrik Ibsen as Disciplinarian. Caricature in
Vikingen, 1882. Ibsen criticizes the political left in
The League of Youth, then criticizes the right in
The Pillars of Society. Finally, he censures all political
parties in An Enemy of the People.
Gyldendal collection, University Library, Oslo.
A Doll’s House was blasted by the critics in its time.
Abandoning both her husband and children and rejecting
her “duty” as a wife and mother was considered immoral by
conservatives. Many critics attacked the “Realism” of the play,
refusing to believe that any woman would choose to leave
her children behind. Critical outrage eventually forced Ibsen
to write a second ending. Ibsen regretted the decision to
write the “happy” ending, in which Nora gives her husband a
second chance after remembering her duty to her children. He
called the ending a “barbaric outrage” and demanded it only
be used when necessary.
After the uproar over A Doll’s House, Ibsen was determined
to write a play in which a woman faces the consequences of
choosing to stay in an unhappy marriage. Ghosts tells the
story of Mrs. Alving and her son, Oswald. Mrs. Alving chose
to remain with her husband and sent her son away to save him
from his father’s debauchery. Despite her efforts, “the sins of
the father visit the son,” and it becomes evident that Oswald
suffers from a venereal disease. The play also suggests
the possibility of incest between Oswald and his father’s
illegitimate daughter. The play ends with Oswald too sick to
function, begging his mother to end his life with an overdose
9 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
of morphine. Through Ghosts, Ibsen shows
that the adherence to constraining social
norms does not ensure our salvation or
happiness but can, in fact, inflict even
greater harm. The play discusses taboo
subjects such as venereal disease, incest,
infidelity, euthanasia, and so-called bastardy.
The ghosts within the play represent the
metaphorical haunting with which each
character grapples. It is the presence of
past misdeeds pursuing the present. The
initial publication of Ghosts only sold a
few copies, and was not performed in
Norway for nearly 12 years after its debut in
Chicago. In one of his most famous public
spectacles, Ibsen reacted strongly to harsh
royal criticism. At a dinner in his honor in
1898 at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, King
Oscar II of Sweden expressed the view that
Ghosts was not a good play, and that Ibsen
should not have written it. After a pause,
Ibsen replied, “Your Majesty, I had to write
Ghosts.”
Ghosts received even harsher criticism than
A Doll’s House; it was condemned by critics
as foul and disgusting. Theatres across
Europe refused to stage it. The conservative
press again blasted his work. The liberal
press, who had defended Ibsen in the past,
turned against him. He was attacked from
all sides. Ibsen was angered by this betrayal
and wrote his next play, An Enemy of the
People, furiously and completely in secret.
In a letter to his publisher, he wryly
mentioned the new play he was writing:
“This time it will be a peaceable production
which can be read by Ministers of State and
wholesale merchants and their ladies, and
from which the theatres will not be obliged
to recoil.” While Ibsen typically published
a new play every two years, Ibsen wrote
at twice his usual speed and published An
Enemy of the People a mere year after
Ghosts. Dr. Stockmann, the main character
of Enemy, becomes the mouthpiece for
Ibsen’s anger. He is a truth-teller who
stands alone against a selfish, uneducated
1 0 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
majority. The doctor’s exposure of the
truth about the baths quickly changes
from concern over the practical issue of
decontamination to a larger, more abstract
battle between the truth-telling minority
and the complacent majority. In the play, Dr.
Stockmann finds allies in the publishers of
the liberal newspapers, Hovstad and Billing.
The two are soon revealed as hypocrites,
however; while they were initially eager to
publish the truth in order to criticize the
current administration, they squash the
story when they realize the decontamination
of the baths will come at great taxpayer
expense. This betrayal mirrors Ibsen’s
disenchantment with the liberal press.
Ibsen also viewed himself as an artist with
an individual vision, and was continually
frustrated by the public’s rejection of his
work based on what he believed were banal,
old fashioned ideas. Dr. Stockmann stands
up for what he believes, despite public
opinion. He goes so far as to compare the
society he lives in to a cesspool — a worse
one, certainly, than the contaminated baths
— and states that the greatest enemy to
freedom in society is the “solid majority”
and that “the minority is always right.”
Finally, he declares that “the strongest man
in the world is he who stands most alone.”
Ibsen creates a complex character in Dr.
Stockmann. The doctor is very idealistic and
committed to truth, but at the same time,
egotistical and prone to anger. His desire
to save the town and its people from the
contaminated baths eventually changes to
rage and indignation against the society he
lives in when faced with the townspeople’s
rejection. In this way, we can see Ibsen’s
complex reactions to the censorship and
rejection of his own work — his desire to
tell the truth, his hurt at being rejected, and
his anger at the complacent majority. The
result is a fierce, streamlined play in which
one can see both Ibsen’s personal fury and
his skill as a dramatist. Ironically, An Enemy
of the People became a popular and critical
success for Ibsen, eagerly received by
theatres across Europe. ❖
Realism: A Shocking Event in its Time
August Lindberg and Hedvig Charlotte WinterHjelm in the first European production
of Ghosts, Hälsingborg, 1883. Drottningholms Teatermusée, Stockholm.
Theatre Lore
What is a raked stage?
Where do the terms upstage
and downstage originate?
Historically, stages were built on
inclines, with the backs of the
stages slightly higher than the
fronts. The incline was called a
rake and helped those in the
back of the audience see the
action onstage. Eventually,
theatres started placing seats on
inclines instead of stages, but the
terminology stuck. Downstage
is the front of the stage, closest
to the audience, and upstage
is the back of the stage. Some
theatres, like A Noise Within, still
participate in the tradition of using
raked stages.
1 1 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
Modern audiences are accustomed to seeing characters on
stage who look, speak and act like they do. It is not unusual to walk
into a theatre or watch a television show and see a set that looks
like the realistic interior of a living room, inhabited by characters
who dress in contemporary clothing and deal with everyday social
problems. In fact, audiences today expect characters to be realistic,
criticizing the actors if their actions are not believable. Throughout
theatre history, however, performance expectations were often very
different. Performance traditions throughout the 1800s were very
stylized. An actor’s goal was to perform the text beautifully, not to
imitate the motivations of a real person. Sets at the time consisted
of painted backdrops. In the 1800s, three dimensional, realistic
settings and characters were shocking to theatre audiences. Our
modern expectations for realistic theatre are largely due to the
innovations of the “Father of Modern Drama,” Henrik Ibsen.
In the early 1800s, mainstream theatre in Europe consisted of
tragedies, melodramas, comic operas, vaudevilles and spectacle
plays. Audiences attended performances of epic tragedies about
idealized heroes, or melodramas with stock or stereotypical
characters.
Many plays were written in verse, or heightened language, and
performed in a larger than life, exaggerated style. However, with
the scientific and technological advances of the 19th century,
intellectual thought turned to social reform and
everyday human concerns. These scientific advances
led to the Realism movement in literature and the
arts in the mid 1800s, in which authors addressed
contemporary social issues, providing a forum for
debate in their art. Realism in theatre sought to
represent characters and situations from real life,
without idealization or embellishment.
Henrik Ibsen was at the forefront of this movement.
He began to write plays in prose, the way that people
spoke to each other in real life, and to focus on realistic
social issues. His plays Pillars of Society, A Doll’s House,
Ghosts and An Enemy of the People are considered
classic works of Realism that changed the way the
western world viewed drama. In each of these plays,
Ibsen addressed a contemporary social problem and
wrote his play as a forum for debate or criticism of
the issue. Ibsen avoided the idealized heroes or stock
characters from the other plays of his day. Instead, he
created fully developed, realistic characters with deep
psychological motives.
The environment that they inhabited was not the
traditional, two-dimensional backdrop, but a fully
furnished living room — as lifelike as the living rooms
in the homes of the audience members. At this time,
the tradition developed in staging realistic dramas in
which directors would call the barrier between the
stage and the audience the “fourth wall,” as if the
stage were an actual living room with one of the
walls removed to allow the audience to observe the
happenings inside. Around this time, the house lights
also began to be dimmed for the performance — taking
the focus of the audience’s attention away from the
social event of “being seen” at the theatre, and on to
the work of art itself.
In his quest for realism, Ibsen also wanted his dialogue
to be as natural as possible, mirroring the way people
spoke to each other in everyday life. In a letter to a
Swedish director in 1883, he wrote: “The language
must sound natural and the form of expression must be
characteristic of each individual person in the play; one
person certainly does not express himself like another.
In this respect a great deal can be put right during the
rehearsals; that is when one easily hears what does
not strike one as natural and unforced, and what must
therefore be changed and changed again until the lines
achieve full credibility and realistic form. The effect of
the play depends in large measure on the audience’s
feeling that they are sitting listening to something that
is going on in actual real life.”
1 2 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
Instead of speaking in verse and heightened language,
characters spoke in natural rhythms and broken trains
of thought, interrupting each other and themselves
as people do naturally. To portray these characters
realistically, a new style of acting had to be created,
which is the basis for most acting training today.
Konstantin Stanislavski (1863-1938) was a Russian actor
and director who invented a system in which actors
deeply analyzed their characters’ psychology and
motivation and used their own emotional memory to
portray genuine feeling. In addition, Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939) had begun his work on psychoanalysis,
introducing the concept of the unconscious mind and
the notion that people are motivated by underlying
psychological causes. Actors who approached Ibsen’s
realistic characters began to analyze their subtext
— emotions and thoughts that motivate characters
without being explicitly written in the text. That the
actor would have to look beyond the text to create
a three-dimensional character was an enormous
departure from the verse dramas before Ibsen’s time,
in which everything an actor needed to know was
explicitly written in the text. The characters on Ibsen’s
stage, then, were not heroes and villains who were very
distant from the audience’s experience, but deeply
human individuals who were motivated by the joys and
griefs of everyday conflict.
Realism in the arts was as revolutionary as any other
social movement of Ibsen’s day. The theatre of Ibsen
and Stanislavski quickly became the standard against
which all other drama was measured. These realistic
dramas revealed and criticized the ills of their own
society, making them dangerous to established
Victorian traditions. Realism became so widespread by
the beginning of the 20th century that actors, writers
and directors began to rebel against the tradition,
breaking the “fourth wall” to engage the audience
more directly in the quest for social reform. Some of the
movements rebelling against Realism include Dadaism,
Futurism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Epic Theatre and
Theatre of the Absurd. Despite these movements,
Stanislavski’s style of acting has become the accepted
method used by actors today on both stage and screen,
and Ibsen’s plays continue to influence theatre-makers
around the world. Modern audiences continue to
expect actors to hold the mirror up to life. ❖
English Language Arts
Find the Subtext — Realism in Performance
Ibsen used very realistic dialogue in his plays. Use the
text below to explore how an actor approaches Ibsen’s
text. Using this scene from Act 3, ask students to get
into pairs and find the subtext within. First, read the
scene for meaning. What are the characters talking
about? What happens in the scene? Then go back and
try to find the subtext. What do the characters reveal
about themselves and their feelings even if they don’t
say it outright? Read the scene again, keeping the
subtext in mind. As a group, discuss ways that actors
use the subtext to play subtle, realistic characters
during performance.
OS:I had an attack already, in France. I guess I blacked out. It didn’t last long, but when they told me
what happened, what I had been like—I was
shocked — and that’s when I got afraid, and I
decided to come home.
MRS A:That’s the fear then…
OS:Yes, because it’s so disgusting. If I had some common disease and knew I was going to die
soon, I would be all right. I’m not afraid of dying —though I want to live as long as I can.
MRS A:Yes, of course!
OS:
But with this — you see, I wouldn’t know. I’d still
be alive but I wouldn’t know. I’d be like a helpless
baby again — I’d have to be fed, I’d have to be… it’s disgusting.
MRS A:Your mother would take care of you.
OS:
No! I don’t want that! No! Lying here for years like
that — getting old, my hair turning grey — still
lying here… And suppose you died before me! The doctor said that, with this disease, a person can live for a long time. He said it was a slow
“softening” in the brain, something like that.
A nice phrase — the “softening” brain. It makes me think of heavy red velvet, smooth to the touch.
MRS A:Oswald!
OS:
And now Regina’s gone. I needed her! I needed her to help me!
MRS A:Oh, my boy — I’ll help you.
OS:
After that attack, the doctor told me that when it
happened again — and it will happen again — there probably wouldn’t be any more hope.
MRS A:How cruel — to say that!
OS:I made him tell me! I told him I had arrangements to make. And I do. (Takes a box from his pocket) Do you see this?
MRS A: What is it?
OS:
My morphine.
MRS A:Oswald!
OS:I saved up twelve of them. That’s enough.
MRS A: Give me the box!
OS:
Not yet! (Puts the box back in his pocket)
MRS A:I can’t bear this…
OS:You have to! You see, if Regina were here now, I
could tell her, very quietly, what to do, and she would do it.
1 3 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
Coverups and Scandals
The themes of Ghosts are very relevant today, as the
truth is continually hidden behind deception and coverups. Ask your class to become a watchdog organization
for cover-ups. Ask students to search through the
newspaper or the internet to find recent news stories
about a government cover-up or scandal involving a
popular entertainment icon. Make a bulletin board
in the classroom where students can post their news
stories every day.
Banned Books
After Mrs. Alving reports that she has been reading
so-called scandalous books, Manders expresses concern
for her moral well-being. He treats her literary choices
with disdain. There are many texts throughout history
that have elicited a similar response from the public.
The American Library Association (or ALA), promotes
“Banned Book Week” in September of each year to
bring focus to books that were once scandalous, but
that are now considered by most to be examples of
some of the highest quality literature in the world.
Using the ALA’s list of most frequently challenged
books, ask students to find and examine some of the
negative press surrounding one of their own choosing.
See the resource guide for the ALA website. ❖
Visual Arts:
Creating the World of Ghosts
Costume designer Nikki Delhomme’s
renderings for Ghosts ground her work
in the expressionist movement of art.
The expressionist painters were primarily
interested in communicating intense emotion
— often through the use of augmented
shapes, bold colors, and exaggerated forms.
According to Delhomme, her work has
emotion at its core:
“I render depending on the production,
style and mood that I would like to execute
for the play, so renderings for ‘Ghosts’
look entirely different for a production of
say ‘Taming of the Shrew’. Through my
drawings and sketches I really just try to
paint what I feel for the play and explore
as I go, trying to stay as loose and open
to the show as possible. I’ve learned that
anything goes and drawings for me are
more about learning the characters than for
show or presentation, I don’t like to agonize
over them, take too much time, or erase,
it is a tool for me to get out the character
just like brainstorming, but with your hand.
Generally the drawings that I show to the
design team and director aren’t as specific
to how they are going to be built but
instead what the character is going to
feel like.”
Design by Nikki Delhomme
Delhomme drew upon the paintings of German
expressionist painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
for her work on Ghosts. Kirchner’s bold use
of color and striking contrasts provided
the designs for Ghosts with a strong sense
for opposites — an excellent mirror for the
differences in morals, opinions, and societal
positions of the characters in the play. The
characters’ costumes showcase their emotions
in a direct and accessible way. According to
Delhomme:
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: Pink Roses, 1918. St. Louis Art Museum.
1 4 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
“For instance, Mrs. Alving will be presented
in a vibrant plum color instead of the
widow’s black in which she is normally
represented. Although she is a widow, on
this day she is dressing with thoughts of
celebration as well as a strong desire to win
over Manders. Her open mind and spirit
give her reason to dress in something a
little more bold…”
Suggested Activities
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: Portrait of a Woman, 1911.
St. Louis Art Museum.
1. Expressionist Abstract:
Gather representations of simple everyday
items such as fruit, books, cups and dishes,
potted plants, etc. Ask students to depict a
single object using Kirchner’s art as inspiration
using acrylic or tempera paints and paper.
Encourage bold use of unexpected colors
— a blue apple, a bright red mug, a purple
and yellow book. Also encourage distorted
proportions and dimensions. The painted
object should occupy most of the page, and
the entire page should be filled with color so
that very little white space remains. Then, ask
students to observe visual contrast as they
share their work with the class, and reflect on
any enhanced emotionality of the piece that
results from stretching the depiction of an
everyday object into abstraction.
2. Expressionist Sculpture:
Identify a single emotion for students to
depict in a sculpture — like anger, joy, or
worry. Ask students to create an expressionist
sculpture which depicts this emotion.
Materials can vary, and will largely depend on
what is at hand. “Found art” sculpture would
be excellent for this project — ask students
to gather boxes, wire, papers, twigs, or other
objects readily available at school or home to
join together with glue, or enhance with paint
to make their sculpture. Encourage students
to find an original way to communicate the
physical and psychological state of emotion in
their sculpture. ❖
Design by Nikki Delhomme
CA VISUAL ARTS STANDARDS:
Grades 9-12 Proficient: Artistic Perception 1.3, Creative Expression 2.1, 2.4, Historical and Cultural Context 3.3, Aesthetic Valuing 4.1-3, 4.5
1 5 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
Edvard Munch and Ghosts
Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863-1944), the preeminent painter and forerunner of the expressionist movement,
was intrigued by Ibsen’s Ghosts. Having seen the play
performed in one of its earliest productions, Munch was
inspired by its realism and exposure of the taboo subject of
syphilis. He painted a series of works based on the play, which
reside in the Munch Museum in Oslo. The museum opened
opened in 1963 on what would have been Munch’s 100th
birthday, and features many works by Munch, including his
most famous painting: “The Scream”.
Edvard Munch, Draft to Stage Background [Act III,
last scene], 1906. Munch Museum: Oslo, Norway.
Munch’s painting “Inheritance” is doubtlessly related to
Ghosts. Munch referred to it himself as “The Syphilitic Child.”
It was created after Munch was likely to have seen the play
in production in Kristiania in 1883. The painting appears to
show Mrs. Alving with the young Oswald in her lap, clearly
infected by the disease. Munch was reported to have felt the
ill-effects of syphilis in his own family through his grandfather,
an Archdeacon. He reported that “insanity” ran in the family as
well. It isn’t hard to imagine, therefore, why Ghosts would have
had a profound effect on the painter.
The series of set design paintings are particularly beautiful and
interesting, especially when viewed alongside the text related to
each piece. For example, “Draft to Stage Background” depicts
the sunrise upon which Oswald and Mrs. Alving gaze as he slips
into oblivion in the final scene.
An excellent online gallery of Munch’s paintings related to Ibsen
and Ghosts are online at the Munch Museum website: http://
www.munch.museum.no/munch_ibsen/english/eindex2.htm. ❖
Edvard Munch, Inheritance, 1897-99.
Munch Museum: Oslo, Norway.
A THIEF IN THE MUSEUM
Two of Munch’s most prized paintings—“The Scream” and “Madonna”
— were stolen by two armed thieves on Sunday, August 11, 2004
from the Munch Museum. The robbers escaped by car. However, in an
investigative master stroke, the paintings were recovered two years
later by Oslo police and returned to the museum. This prompted a total
security overhaul for the museum.
1 6 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
Music:
The Norwegian Hardanger Fiddle
Ibsen is Norway’s most prominent playwright and author,
and was undoubtedly influenced by the many cultural arts of the
region. The late 1800s brought not only Ibsen’s play Ghosts, but
also an explosion of Norwegian folk music.
Unlike many other countries, Norway has an unbroken folk
music tradition — meaning that the practice of making folk
music has been passed on continuously from generation to
generation. Indeed, because of this strong tradition,
the Norwegian government asserts that
“…there has been no need for a folk music revival.”
In the United States, folk artists speak of making an
effort to “keep the tradition alive” at regional festivals
and fairs. However, in Norway, folk music is imbedded
in everyday and pop culture.
The most famous element of Norwegian folk music
is the Hardanger fiddle. The instrument itself is
considered the national instrument of Norway. It is
similar to a violin, but constructed differently. Experts
disagree on whether the Hardanger fiddle evolved
from the violin or from medieval string instruments.
Hardanger Fiddle.
Hardanger fiddle players often bow two strings at
once — a practice which is similar to the American
style of folk fiddle playing. A traditional violin is
made with only four strings and tuned to a low G, a
D, an A, and an E on every instrument. However, the
Hardanger fiddle is tuned differently according to
the region or tune being played. There are four or five strings,
each accompanied by a second “under” string which resonates
at a different pitch when the main string is played with a bow.
The neck of the Hardanger fiddle is typically inlaid with mother
of pearl or other precious shells or stones and pen-and-ink
decorations called “rosing.” The fiddle is often topped with a
carved head of a lion or other animal.
The use of drone strings in the Hardanger fiddle tradition,
combined with the large number of tunings used, gives the
music a rich variety of tonal harmonies. This has served as an
inspiration for a number of Norwegian composers, including
internationally renowned classical composer Edvard Grieg.
The instrument’s name most likely originated from the
Hardanger fjord region of Norway. The oldest known fiddle —
called the “Jaastad Fiddle” — dates from as early as 1651. The
Hardanger Fiddle Association of America has a complete history
and music samples for listening at http://www.hfaa.org/. ❖
MUSIC STANDARDS:
Grades 9-12 Proficient: Historical and Cultural Context, 3.0, 3.2.
1 7 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
ACTIVITY:
Have students
research the
history of a musical
instrument of their
choice. Using online
and print sources, ask
students to choose
a favorite from
photographic images
of brass, string,
wind, and percussion
instruments. Have
them prepare an oral
report and visual
aid/illustration of
their instrument,
and ensure that they
cover the cultural
history, time period,
construction, and
any interesting
musical, symbolic, or
utilitarian features of
their instrument.
Ask students to
explain the role
that musicians who
use that instrument
perform within the
context of the music
for which it
is normally used.
Resources
Essays
•Riis, Johannes. Naturalist and Classical Styles in Early Sound Film Acting.
Cinema Journal, 2004.
•Robins, Elizabeth. “From Hedda Gabler to Votes for Women.”
Theatre Journal, 1996.
Books on Ibsen
Theatre
Lore
What is a
ghost light?
There is a superstition
that if an emptied
theater is ever left
completely dark, a
ghost will take up
residence. In other
versions of the same
superstition the ghosts
of past performances
return to the stage
to live out their glory
moments. To prevent
this, a single light called
a ghost light is left
burning at center stage
after the audience and
all of the actors and
musicians have gone.
Now, those in the
world of theatre know
that a “dark” theatre
is one without a play.
There is nothing sadder
to a dramatic artist
than an empty house
and a playless stage.
Therefore, a light is left
burning center stage
so that the theatre
is never “dark;” it is
simply awaiting the
next production.
•Bernhardt, Rudiger. Henrik Ibsen und die Deutschen. Henschelverlag
Kunst und Gesellschaft, 1989.
•Brandes, George. Henrik Ibsen. Critical Studies, 1999.
•McFarlane, James. The Cambridge Companion to Ibsen.
Cambridge University Press, 1994.
•Meyer, Michael. Ibsen: A Biography. Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1971.
•Postlewait, Thomas (ed.) William Archer on Ibsen. Greenwood Press, 1984.
•Templeton, Joan. Ibsen’s Women. Cambridge University Press, 1997.
•Wisenthal, J.L. (ed.) Bernard Shaw’s The Quintessence of Ibsenism and
Related Writings. University of Toronto Press, 1979.
Websites
•www.ibsen.net
Reference site for information on Henrik Ibsen’s life and works
•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_Ibsen
Biography and Complete listing of works of Henrik Ibsen
•www.littlebluelight.com
Concise introduction featuring a biography, major works and a
discussion of his themes and style
•http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ibsen.htm
Ibsen’s major works put in perspective against the events of
the playwright’s life
•http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/
challengedbanned/frequentlychallengedbooks.cfm#tmfcbo2007
American Library Association Website—for lists of most frequently
challenged books
1 8 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
About Theatre Arts
Theatre Vocabulary
Being an Audience
Member
Today, movies and television
take audiences away from what
was once the number one form
of entertainment: going to the
theatre. But attending a live
performance is still one of the
most thrilling and active forms
of spending time. In a theatre,
observers are catapulted into
the action, especially at an
intimate venue like A Noise
Within, whose thrust stage
reaches out into the audience
and whose actors can see, hear,
and feel the response of the
crowd. Although in the past
playhouses could sometimes
be rowdy, today participating
in the performance by giving
respect and attention to the
actors is the most appropriate
behavior at a theatrical
performance. Shouting out or
even whispering can be heard
throughout the auditorium, as
can rustling paper or ringing
phones.
After A Noise Within’s
performance of Ghosts, you
will have the opportunity to
discuss the play’s content and
style with the performing artists
and directors. You may wish
to remind students to observe
the performance carefully or
to compile questions ahead of
time so they are prepared to
participate in the discussion.
These terms will be included in pre- and post-performance discussions
at A Noise Within.
blocking: The instructions a director
gives his actors that tell them how
and where to move in relation to
each other or to the set in a particular
scene.
character: The personality or part
portrayed by an actor on stage.
set: The physical world created on
stage in which the action of the play
takes place.
setting: The environment in which
a play takes place. It may include
the historical period as well as the
physical space.
conflict: The opposition of people or
forces which causes the play’s rising
action.
stage areas: The stage is divided into
areas to help the director to note
where action will take place.
dramatic irony: A dramatic technique
used by a writer in which a character
is unaware of something the audience
knows.
genre: Literally, “kind” or “type.”
In literary terms, genre refers to the
main types of literary form, principally
comedy and tragedy. It can also refer
to forms that are more specific to
a given historical era, such as the
revenge tragedy, or to more specific
sub-genres of tragedy and comedy
such as the comedy of manners, farce
or social drama.
motivation: The situation or mood
which initiates an action. Actors often
look for their “motivation” when they
try to dissect how a character thinks
or acts.
props: Items carried on stage
by an actor to represent objects
mentioned in or implied by the script.
Sometimes the props are actual,
sometimes they are manufactured in
the theatre shop.
proscenium stage: There is usually a
front curtain on a proscenium stage.
The audience views the play from the
front through a “frame” called the
proscenium arch. In this scenario, all
audience members have the same
view of the actors.
1 9 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
Upstage is the area furthest from
the audience. Downstage is the
area closest to the audience.
Center stage defines the middle
of the playing space. Stage left
is the actor’s left as he faces the
audience. Stage right is the actor’s
right as he faces the audience.
theme: The overarching message or
main idea of a literary or dramatic
work. A recurring idea
in a play or story.
thrust stage: A stage that juts out
into the audience seating area so that
patrons are seated on three sides. In
this scenario, audience members see
the play from varying viewpoints. A
Noise Within features a thrust stage.
About A Noise Within
A Noise Within’s mission
is to produce the great works of
world drama in rotating repertory,
with a company of professional,
classically- trained actors. A Noise
Within educates the public through
comprehensive outreach efforts and
conservatory training programs that
foster a deeper understanding and
appreciation of history’s greatest
plays and playwrights.
As the only company in southern
California working in the repertory
tradition (rotating productions using
a resident ensemble of professional,
trained artists), A Noise Within
is dedicated solely to producing
classical literature from authors such
as Shakespeare, Molière, Ibsen,
Shaw, and Euripides.
The company was formed in 1991
by founders Geoff Elliott and Julia
Rodriguez-Elliott, both of whom
were classically trained at the
acclaimed American Conservatory
Theatre in San Francisco. They
envisioned A Noise Within after
recognizing a lack of professional,
classical productions and education
in Southern California and sought
out and assembled their own
company of actors to meet the
need. All of A Noise Within’s
resident artists have been classically
trained, and many hold Master of
Fine Arts degrees from some of the
nation’s most respected institutions,
such as Juilliard, Yale, and the
American Conservatory Theatre.
In its fourteen-year history, A
Noise Within has garnered over
500 awards and commendations,
including the Los Angeles Drama
Critics’ Circle’s revered Polly
Warfield Award for Excellence and
the coveted Margaret Hartford
Award for Sustained Excellence.
In 2004, A Noise Within accepted
an invitation to collaborate with
the Los Angeles Philharmonic
for a tandem performance of
A Midsummer Night’s Dream at
the Hollywood Bowl.
More than 25,000 individuals
attend productions at A Noise
Within, annually, and between
performances at the theatre and
touring productions, the company
draws 13,000 student participants
to its arts education programs
every year. Students benefit from
in-school workshops, conservatory
training, and an internship program,
as well as subsidized tickets to
matinee and evening performances,
discussions with artists, and state
standards-compliant study guides.
Study Guides
A Noise Within creates
California standards-compliant
study guides to help educators
prepare their students for
their visit to our theatre.
Study guides are available at
no extra cost to download
through our website:
www.anoisewithin.org.
All of the information and
activities outlined in these
guides are designed to work
in compliance with Visual
and Performing Arts, English
Language, and other subject
standards as set forth by the
state of California.
Study guides include
background information on
the plays and playwrights,
historical context, textual
analysis, in-depth discussion
of A Noise Within’s artistic
interpretation of the work,
interviews with directors and
designers, as well as discussion
points and suggested
classroom activities. Guides
from past seasons are also
available to download from
the website.
California’s Home for the Classics
California’s Home for the Classics
Compiled and Written by Samantha Starr
Graphic Design by Christopher Komuro
2 0 A Noise Within 2008/2009 Repertory Season
Geoff Elliott & Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, Artistic Directors
Administrative Office: 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA 91204
Administration: Tel 818.240.0910 / FAX 818.240.0826
Website: www.anoisewithin.org
Box Office: 818.240.0910 ext.1
California’s Home for the Classics