Ibsen in the German-American Theater

Abstract

Ibsen’s introduction and subsequent recognition as a dramatist of significant merit in America was a prolonged affair. Seen from the perspective of the stage, his breakthrough first came between 1903 and 1904, more than two decades after the first production of Pillars of Society at the Stadttheater, performed in German in Milwaukee, 1879. Compared to the central countries in Ibsen’s European reception, England, France and Germany, the effect on domestic theatrical life upon entry was not as immediate and transformative. During these twenty-five years, however, Ibsen was staged frequently in German-American theaters. German immigrants nurtured a distinct theatrical culture that was susceptible to the popular currents in Germany, but as an institution in the margins of mainstream American theatrical life, it was also shaped by concerns with commercial sustainability, cultural prestige, self-preservation and social issues relating to immigration. While certain performances of Ibsen in German-American theaters have previously been noted in Ibsen-scholarship, they have not been analyzed as a whole. This article presents new historical material, highlights the conditions of Ibsen’s transference to this theater culture, examines its absorption of Ibsen, assesses the reception, and estimates the significance of these performances for Ibsen’s progress in American mainstream theater. The approach starts from a quantitative viewpoint and proceeds as theater history. Primarily a case study, the aim is also on a more general level, to make a contribution that sheds further light on the transnational underpinnings of Ibsen’s initial global diffusion, and to expand upon the historical understanding of the different