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Audible Theatre Collection: Ibsen cover art

Audible Theatre Collection: Ibsen

By: Henrik Ibsen
Narrated by: Owen Teale,Harry Myers,Laura Carmichael,James Parkes,Rachel Atkins,Sarah Whitehouse,Christopher Dane
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  • Summary

  • Born in 1828, Norwegian playwright, theatre director and poet Ibsen, wrote in Danish yet lived for many years in Italy and Germany. Heralded as one the most distinguished dramatists after Shakespeare, by the early 20th century A Doll's House became the world's most performed play. 

    Hedda Gabler 

    A poignant study of loneliness, impotent rage and societal expectations breeding a certain kind of madness, this trailblazing play focusses on Hedda Gabler, 'the general's daughter', and her rising feelings of anger and jealousy towards a former schoolmate, fuelled by her lack of control in her own life. When a former suitor comes back into her life, bringing with him all kinds of complication, passion and history, Hedda devises a plot to win back her power... which ultimately leads to a very civilized sort of chaos and, ultimately, tragedy. 

    Full cast: Laura Carmichael, James Parkes, Rachel Atkins, Sarah Whitehouse, Christopher Dane, Harry Myers, Fiz Marcus. 

    A Doll's House 

    Nora Helmers is her husband Torvald's adorable 'little doll'. Pretty and doll-like in her doll's house with her healthy children and seemingly respectable life, she and her family have it all... or so it seems. Behind closed doors, like a lot of Ibsen's antiheroines, Nora is unhappy and unfulfilled. She is thoughtful, intelligent and trapped, playing the role of a dutiful wife in a situation that doesn't arouse any of her passions, in a society that believes that she shouldn't have any. A fascinating before-its-time window onto a world where expectations of women were streets apart from the contemporary world, Ibsen's masterpiece is a study in strength, determination and hard choices against all the odds. 

    Full cast: Laura Carmichael, Edward Harrison, Christopher Dane, Sarah Whitehouse, Harry Myers, Jessica Dennis, Josephine Arden. 

    An Enemy of the People 

    A true classic and a play for modern times in equal measure. A perhaps unintentional parody on 'fake news', the hysteria of the masses and publicly shaming individuals to the point of breakdown, this story follows one man's struggle to do the right thing and speak truth in the face of extreme social intolerance. Sometimes farcical, sometimes terrifying, An Enemy of the People is a parable for crazy times and a cautionary tale for those who dare challenge the establishment. 

    Full cast: Owen Teale, Sarah Whitehouse, Christopher Dane, James Parkes, Edward Harrison, David Forest, Ben Whitehead, Harry Myers, Neil Frost, Paul Anthony, Liis Mikk, Josephine Arden. 

    As an Audio Show – free for members – when you add The Ibsen Collection to your library, you'll get three plays split into a total of 12 acts, each with a runtime of about 35 minutes. 

    ©2016 Audible, Ltd. (P)2016 Audible, Ltd.
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Episodes
  • Hedda Gabler
    May 3 2018

    A poignant study of loneliness, impotent rage and societal expectations breeding a certain kind of madness, this trailblazing play focusses on Hedda Gabler, 'the general's daughter', and her rising feelings of anger and jealousy towards a former schoolmate, fuelled by her lack of control in her own life. When a former suitor comes back into her life, bringing with him all kinds of complication, passion and history, Hedda devises a plot to win back her power... which ultimately leads to a very civilized sort of chaos and, ultimately, tragedy.

    Full cast: Laura Carmichael, James Parkes, Rachel Atkins, Sarah Whitehouse, Christopher Dane, Harry Myers, Fiz Marcus.

    Show More Show Less
    2 hrs and 1 min
  • A Doll's House
    May 3 2018

    Nora Helmers is her husband Torvald's adorable 'little doll'. Pretty and doll-like in her doll's house with her healthy children and seemingly respectable life, she and her family have it all... or so it seems. Behind closed doors, like a lot of Ibsen's antiheroines, Nora is unhappy and unfulfilled. She is thoughtful, intelligent and trapped, playing the role of a dutiful wife in a situation that doesn't arouse any of her passions, in a society that believes that she shouldn't have any. A fascinating before-its-time window onto a world where expectations of women were streets apart from the contemporary world, Ibsen's masterpiece is a study in strength, determination and hard choices against all the odds.

    Full cast: Laura Carmichael, Edward Harrison, Christopher Dane, Sarah Whitehouse, Harry Myers, Jessica Dennis, Josephine Arden.

    Show More Show Less
    2 hrs and 10 mins
  • An Enemy of the People
    May 3 2018

    A true classic and a play for our modern times in equal measure. A perhaps unintentional parody on 'fake news', the hysteria of the masses and publicly shaming individuals to the point of breakdown, this story follows one man's struggle to do the right thing and speak the truth in the face of extreme social intolerance. Sometimes farcical, sometimes terrifying, An Enemy of the People is a parable for crazy times and a cautionary tale for those who dare to challenge the establishment.

    Full cast: Owen Teale, Sarah Whitehouse, Christopher Dane, James Parkes, Edward Harrison, David Forest, Ben Whitehead, Harry Myers, Neil Frost, Paul Anthony, Liis Mikk, Josephine Arden.

    Show More Show Less
    2 hrs and 19 mins

What listeners say about Audible Theatre Collection: Ibsen

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Download issues

There seems to be an issue with the Audible Theatre collections; I purchased these almost a month ago and all that is available on my kindle fire app is a long description of the show with no option to play or download the episodes.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

brilliant as an audio

absolutely loved listening to these plays. I had heard Hedda Gabler before and the other 2 plays are just as good. Very easy to listen to again and again. A nice length. Highly recommend.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

excellent short drama. thanks for the freebie!

i listened to this in one go. the characters are well defined and the plot is gripping if tragic. great production and characters i particularly liked the voice of the mr tessman character (heddas husband). i tried the chevkhov plays but found them a bit heavy going to start with

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

unputdownable in audio terms

wow simply stunning. the story line the suspense the performance. took my breath away it was that good.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Thoroughly enjoyable

Brilliant performances, curious narratives and intriguing characters. High quality recording - I found it easy to visualise the stories. Definitely worth the time.

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Thoroughly enjoyed them

I found they plays compelling to listen to! The plots and themes were interesting and they were acted out very well. Would definitely recommend

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

An Enemy of the People

Annoyingly, I have only been able to access 1 of the 3 plays in this collection due to download issues.

An Enemy of the People was well written (although references to 'acting like old women' felt dated). The plot is stronger than the cast however - the young boys sounded like the adult women I suspect they were. This had funny and serious elements which balanced well.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Nothing about a lot of a lot about nothing

Being unfamiliar with Ibsen I listened with an expectation of experiencing serious drama. I was disappointed. The themes were weak, the stories reminiscent of Victorian melodramatic moral tales, light in substance and superficial in emotion. Well presented and acted, but very disappointing.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

It was just Ok.

Although I did enjoy the language used at that time I was bitterly disappointed with the endings, I couldn't even finish the second story it dragged on and on.......

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved these, brilliant.

Oh my word, there is something so amazing about Laura Carmichael's voice, so beautifully pronounced that I never want anyone to hear me speak again lol.

Hedda Gabler 5 / 5, I wanted it to go on for hours.
A Doll's House 4.5 / 5, again brilliantly performed.
An Enemy of the People 4 / 5, sort of lost track with the poodles lol.

listen if you get the chance, I still can't believe this was free, superb all round, very much enjoyed. Thank you to all the cast and Audible for the gift of audio.

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