The Wild Duck

The secrets of two families are laid bare in Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, now playing at the Fisher Center as part of SummerScape at Bard College. The opportunity to see this rarely staged work is always a weclome one, and although Caitriona McLaughlin’s contemporary dress staging presents problems for theatergoers, the work of a fine ensemble allows the potency of the play to shine before the curtain falls.

For anyone unfamiliar with the play, it’s difficult to imagine the emotional depths to which the piece will sink during the opening moments, in which Hâkon Werle (Tom Bloom) fetes his estranged son Gregers (Dashiell Eaves), who has been absent from his family’s home for over a decade.

Hints of the darkness that loom over the family arise quickly, though, particularly as they relate to shady business practices that led to the prosecution and conviction of Hâkon’s business partner Ekdal (Peter Maloney), now a elderly alcoholic. And when Gregers learns that Ekdal’s son Hjalmar (Sean Cullen) has married Gina (Mary Bacon), who used to work in the Werles’ house, Gregers’ outburst against his father speaks volumes: there’s more to meets the eye in the all of these relationships.

There’s also more than a little melodrama to be had as the action continues and Gregers sets about helping Hjalmar learn the truth about his marriage. Unfortunately, given the stilted nature of David Eldridge’s new version of the script, some of the piece’s most heightened moments inspired inappropriate giggles.

In addition, many details in the plot make little sense given the contemporary setting of McLaughlin’s production, notably the loft menagerie in the Ekdal family’s garret home (which looks a little too boho chic in John McDermott’s swank scenic design), where the titular wild duck, along with chickens, ducks and rabbits, lives. The space affords old man Ekdal with an indoor hunting ground, and as gunshots are fired offstage, theatergoers wonder why the neighbors haven’t complained and police do not arrive on the scene.

Yet as the play reaches its catastrophic heights, the company’s work helps theatergoers set aside their qualms about the production. At the show’s center is a marvelously committed and carefully conceived turn from Cullen, whose stooped posture and sadly searching eyes tell theatergoers all they need to know about how broken Hjalmar’s spirit is. Equally impressive is Bacon, who brings a determined and cheerful forthrightness to her performance as Gina. And as the marriage hits the skids, Cullen and Bacon ably traverse the couple’s recriminations filled with bitterness and love.

Eaves’ performance as the haunted and spiritually searching Gregers’ also shines, as do the turns from the always-reliable Maloney, who thoroughly charms as the elder Ekdal, and from recent college graduate Rachel Cora, who is simply superb in her utterly convincing portrayal of Hjalmar and Gina’s 14-year-old daughter Hedwig.

Also notable are Bloom, who brings a casually cruel matter-of-factness to the elder Werle, Kristin Griffith whose joie de vivre as Mrs. Sørby gives way to a palpable melancholy, and Liam Craig, who impressively balances inebriated nonchalance with passion as the Ekdal’s neighbor, Relling.