Shakespeare Theatre Company set for The Wild Duck

Shakespeare Theatre Company has announced casting for Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck, produced in association with Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA). Directed by STC Artistic Director Simon Godwin, from the adaptation by David Eldridge, the production begins its TFANA run in New York on September 2 before playing at STC's Klein Theatre from October 18 through November 16.

The Wild Duck presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company at Klein Theatre

In The Wild Duck, the eccentric son of a wealthy businessman wreaks havoc when he embarks on a crusade to unveil the false foundations of his friend's life. Ignorant of the adults' machinations, a young girl tries to shield a fragile creature from the hurts of the world. This is a rare presentation of Ibsen's unflinching tale about truth's tragic toll.

"This is the first time that I've directed a play by Ibsen, and his plays' moral interrogations feel very relevant right now," says Godwin. "The play is urgently asking us, in the battle for moral certainty, who is the casualty? What is the price of truth?"

The production uses David Eldridge's adaptation of the text. "There's a timelessness to the tension the play explores that sits in all of us; simultaneously a need for the truth of our lives to be told and the need to maintain delusions about ourselves and our loved ones that makes coping with living possible," said Eldridge. "That enduring relevance means that I'm drawn to presenting a lucid version of the play, faithful to Ibsen's original, but that is immediate, alive, and can exist in the thrilling present tense of an act of theater."

As previously announced, two recent actors from STC's 24/25 season will return for The Wild Duck. Nick Westrate (Frankenstein) takes on the role of Hjalmar Ekdal, an idealistic but disillusioned photographer forced to confront the lies in his family, to tragic results. Melanie Field, who appeared to high acclaim as the lovelorn Sonya in Uncle Vanya, will play Gina Ekdal, Hjalmar's wife and partner, caught up in the betrayals.

Alex Hurt takes on the role of Gregers Werle, the impassioned and idealistic son of Håkon Werle, whose quest to reveal and avenge the past sins of his father leads to the unraveling of the Ekdal home. Hurt makes his STC debut, having appeared on Broadway in Patriots, as well as numerous film, TV, and off-Broadway roles.

Veteran film and stage actor and musician David Patrick Kelly plays Old Ekdal. His extensive collaborations include the work of David Lynch and Spike Lee, and plays by Ibsen, Shakespeare, Chekhov, and more.

Also making STC debuts are Katie Broad (Tony-nominated An Enemy of the People at Circle in the Square) as Pettersen; Maaike Laanstra-Corn (Atlantic Theatre Company, Clubbed Thumb) as Hedvig; Mahira Kakkar (Broadway's Life of Pi) as Mrs. Sørby; Bobby Plasencia (HBO's Maria Full of Grace) as Mr. Flor; and Alexander Sovronsky (TFANA's Othello directed by Arin Arbus, Broadway's Cyrano de Bergerac with Kevin Kline) as Jensen.

Matthew Saldivar (STC's Much Ado About Nothing, 2012) plays Relling and Captain Balle and has also appeared in numerous Broadway productions, including Junk, Peter and the Starcatcher, A Streetcar Named Desire, Saint Joan, and Bernhardt/Hamlet. Robert Stanton, who appeared in STC's The Critic & The Real Inspector Hound (Emery Battis Award) and Strange Interlude, plays Håkon Werle. Stanton's Broadway credits include Uncle Vanya, Ink, Saint Joan, Mary Stuart, and The Coast of Utopia.

The Production Stage Manager for STC is Laura Smith, and the Assistant Stage Manager is Dayne Sundman.

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