Interpretations of Ibsen’s Works in the Latest Georgian Theater

One of the main themes of Ibsen’s dramaturgy is the confrontation between the individual and the society. This theme, of course, is constant and very relevant today. Perhaps that is why, in the light of today’s reality, young creators stage plays of the brilliant Norwegian playwright to express their messages and position. This time I will focus on Ghosts, staged at the Liberty Theater by Saba Aslamazishvili, and Hedda Gabler, staged at the experimental stage of the Rustaveli Theater by Tata Popiashvili. Ghosts is a very dramatic and effective performance. Ibsen is interested in genetic heredity, how the behavior of ancestors, the sins committed by them affect and reflect on offspring. A sense of duty is opposed to the personal interests of a person, the social moral norms - to the feelings and life of a person. What is more important - enjoying every minute of life or strictly established norms of life. Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler is much more than just an eccentric protagonist, she is a person protesting against the narrow-minded world around her. The existence of a character like Hedda in such a world is nonsense, absurd. Everyone tries to put her in some simple social framework (wife, girlfriend, mother), but due to her rebellious, freedom-loving nature she cannot fit into these frameworks. Saba Aslamazishvili staged Ibsen’s Ghosts at the Liberty Theater. The performance of the play at first glance differs from the director’s handwriting. In my opinion, the young director has proven that he is able not only to work on plays of different genres, but also can and is interested in working with different theatrical forms. This time, without any épatage, he created Ghosts using the methods of classical, psychological theater. Tata Popiashvili offered an interesting interpretation of Hedda Gabler on the experimental stage of the Rustaveli Theater. The director worked with Guram Ghonghadze on Ibsen’s text. A very good new translation of the play was made. The director edited a stage text, maid Berta was cut out. From a rather long play she left only the part which clearly expresses the concept of the performance. Everything in the performance serves to show the personality of Hedda Gabler. Saba Aslamazishvili and Tata Popiashvili offered some interesting interpretations of Ibsen’s plays and associated the problems posed in the play with the acute issues of modern society. The young directors have left the questions open in their performances. Each spectator has to give the answers by himself.