Jonathan Polanco, Patrick Gallagher, Mel Leipzig, and Margot Bergeron (facing away from camera) rehearse for a staged reading of Ibsen’s Rosmersholm.
Mercer County Community College’s theatre students are teaming up with Professor Emeritus and painter Mel Leipzig for a staged reading of Rosmersholm, by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
As eight students bring the drama to life in a staged reading, Leipzig will serve as an on-stage narrator to lead the audience through the complexities of the plot and shed light on the historical events at the time the play was written.
While not as well-known to American audiences as some of Ibsen’s other works, Rosmersholm is considered by many critics to be his masterwork. Reflecting a progressive takeover of the government in 1880s Norway, the play is a domestic tragedy about the collision of utopian ideas and political realities, incorporating timeless themes that remain relevant today.
Student actors include Hamilton residents Margot Bergeron, Patrick Gallagher, Jonathan V. Polanco and Wellington Talkpa, Jon Cintron of Trenton, Elizabeth Koenig of Yardley, Pa., Mike Miele of Belle Mead and Joe Schachter of East Windsor.
According to MCCC theatre program coordinator Jody Person, the project was inspired by Professor Leipzig.
“Everyone knows Professor Leipzig as a painter, but he is also a great lover and appreciator of Ibsen. We will bring the show to life as Mel offers an insider’s view into Ibsen’s world, like the director’s commentary on a DVD. People will leave the theater with far greater insights into Ibsen’s times,” Person said in a statement.
Person adds that Leipzig was a close friend of Rolf Fjelde, a leading Ibsen translator who died in 2002. Further proof of Leipzig’s appreciation of Ibsen can be found in his paintings, which include numerous canvasses based on Ibsen plays, including MCCC student productions of “A Doll’s House,” “Hedda Gabler” and “Peer Gynt.”
The performance is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 24 at Kelsey Theatre, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors, students and children.
More information is online at kelseytheatre.net.
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