The Wild Duck

The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet transforms Ibsen’s psychological drama into contemporary dance, where every gesture exposes layers of illusion and loss.
A wounded wild duck becomes the living symbol of a family’s unraveling in this daring adaptation. Choreographed by Marit Moum Aune, the work unfolds on the Oslo Opera House stage, where forests close in and an attic breathes with secrets. Dancers embody the Ekdals’ fragile facade, from Hjalmar’s hollow pride to young Hedvig’s desperate reach for love. Kjell Torriset’s minimalist score punctuates each emotional fracture.
This is no period piece but a piercing look at the lies families live by. In elegant movement, Ibsen’s question lands with force: is truth an act of cruelty or the only path to redemption?

Every attic conceals family secrets, but the innermost corner of the Ekdal family attic hides the most precious secret of all, a wounded wild duck with a broken wing. 

Hjalmar Ekdal, the man of the house, is obsessed with the duck – but makes every effort to maintain a facade as a family. Young Hedvig wants nothing more than her father’s attention. She is gradually going blind, yet sees more and more – of class differences, illusions, delusions and the adults’ betrayal. 

When the Norwegian National Ballet dances out the dark secrets of the past in scenes that are as endearing as they are intense, Ibsen’s psychological realism takes on a whole new dimension. 

Hedda Gabler and Ibsen’s Ghost are among the greatest successes of the Norwegian National Ballet, award-winning and acclaimed both in Norway and abroad. Theatre director Marit Moum Aune’s Ibsen trilogy comes to an end with The Wild Duck.  

This time round, she once again teams up with the composer and musician Nils Petter Molvær, set designer Even Børsum and costume designer Ingrid Nylander. 

“Hearts explode when the Norwegian National Ballet dances Ibsen” wrote a reviewer about the first part of the trilogy. We are now doing it again. 

Hedda Gabler by Marit Moum Aune, The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet Ghosts by Marit Moum Aune, The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet Swan Lake by The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet In Close by The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet