Alicia Vikander is mesmerising in The Lady from the Sea ...Middle East

There is a reason why The Lady from the Sea (1888) is one of Henrik Ibsen’s more difficult, less performed dramas. It is rooted, like A Doll’s House and Hedda Gabler, in the depiction of domestic constraints and an imperfect marriage – yet unlike the Norwegian dramatist’s two greatest hits, it pulses with a current of primal, atavistic, almost mythological power. Undaunted, Australian writer-director Simon Stone has selected it as his latest candidate for a modern adaptation, after a blistering Yerma in 2016 with Billie Piper, and a bewildering Phaedra with Janet McTeer in 2023.

The great news is that Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead, Love Actually) and Oscar winner Alicia Vikander – in her London stage debut – make for a phenomenal central pairing as a distinguished older man on his second marriage and an attractive younger woman on her first.

We’re apparently in the contemporary Lake District, where Edward (Lincoln) is a doctor and Ellida (Vikander) a bestselling writer. They live with Edward’s deliciously unfiltered teenage/early 20s daughters from his first marriage (lovely work from Grace Oddie-James and Isobel Akuwudike). Ibsen’s Ellida was notably obsessed by the sea, caught in its literal and metaphorical currents and undertow, whereas the best that Stone can offer Vikander in this regard is a state of perpetual sogginess. We first encounter Ellida returned from a swim with wet hair, and Vikander subsequently spends almost the entire second half either standing or lying in showers and pools of water.

The trouble with Stone’s updating of this story – of past loves returning to haunt current lives – is that he attempts to afford too many characters too great a slice of the dramatic action. The narrative becomes increasingly centrifugal, with Ellida struggling to hold the centre ground in the piece that bears her name. This is an immense pity, as Vikander gives a mesmerisingly twitchy performance as a woman living on her nerves, whose sinuous and twisting physicality expresses deep emotional unrest.

“If only her mild ennui wasn’t so attractive,” says Edward of his wife. Lincoln impresses as an established professional man whose seemingly settled life is suddenly overwhelmed by upheaval, as the three women he loves start to strike out in unexpected directions.

square THEATRE REVIEWS

Romans: A Novel is a mighty evening of theatre

Poor Joe Alwyn has drawn the short straw with the bewildering character of Heath, a distant cousin of Edward’s with a terminal illness and no discernible narrative purpose.

The admirably adaptable Bridge Theatre space is, here, configured into an in-the-round setting, and by using changes of lighting states to hurtle us through changes of scene, Stone never allows the momentum to slacken. He tries to cram too much in, though – Just Stop Oil protests get a look-in, as do the ethics of age-gap relationships, whereas the suicide of Edward’s first wife is oddly under-explored – and the details of Ellida’s past that have been hitherto concealed from her husband begin to beggar belief.

Nonetheless, Lincoln and Vikander keep us gripped as the implausibilities mount.

‘The Lady from the Sea‘ is at the Bridge Theatre to 8 November (bridgetheatre.co.uk)

Hence then, the article about alicia vikander is mesmerising in the lady from the sea was published today ( Friday 19/09/2025 - 02:11 AM ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Alicia Vikander is mesmerising in The Lady from the Sea )

Also on site :

• Walmart's 3-Piece Vintage-Inspired Makeup Bag Set Is on Sale for Just $13
• ’90s Country Music Legend Pays Tribute to Beloved Colleague After His Death 
• 1995 Hit Film Ranked the 'Greatest Heist Thriller' of All Time