The League of Youth
Encyclopedia
The League of Youth is a play by Henrik Ibsen
finished in early May 1869. It was Ibsen's first play in colloquial prose and marks a turning point in his style towards realism and away from verse. It was widely considered Ibsen's most popular play in nineteenth-century Norway
. Though rooted in serious events of the time, the play was lauded for its natural and witty dialogue, cynical humour and farcical intrigue.
, The League of Youth features a protagonist Stensgaard, who poses as a political idealist and gathers a new party around him, the 'League of Youth', and aims to eliminate corruption among the "old" guard and bring his new "young" group to power. In scheming to be elected, he immerses himself in social and sexual intrigue, culminating in such complexity that at the end of the play all the women whom he has at one time planned to marry reject him, his plans for election fail, and he is run out of town.
Though popular and often produced in Scandinavia it has rarely been staged elsewhere. There have been two known productions in the UK: on a Sunday evening in 1900 a single performance by the Stage Society with Granville Barker as Erik, Robert Farquharson
as Bastian and Edward Knoblock
as a waiter. A professional production premiering on 13 May 2011 at Nottingham Playhouse
.
play, a comedy on human weakness which does not, like some of his later plays on weakness, end in the punishment of the weak."
It's been described as "Peer Gynt
in politics".
The central character Stensgaard was in fact based on the real-life figure of Herman Bagger, an outsider who arrived in the town of Skien
in the 1830s, dabbled in journalism, was elected to political office and was even involved with a scandal involving an IOU note. Other real-life caricature's include that of Daniel Hejre which was an affectionate portrait of Ibsen's father. Aslaksen the printer was based on a friend of Ibsen's from youth named N.F. Axelsen who printed the paper The Man which Ibsen had edited for nine months.
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
finished in early May 1869. It was Ibsen's first play in colloquial prose and marks a turning point in his style towards realism and away from verse. It was widely considered Ibsen's most popular play in nineteenth-century Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Though rooted in serious events of the time, the play was lauded for its natural and witty dialogue, cynical humour and farcical intrigue.
Summary
Taking a different tack than Ibsen's earlier political play The PretendersThe Pretenders (play)
The Pretenders is a dramatic play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.-Play overview:The Pretenders was written in bursts during 1863, but Ibsen claims to have had sources and the idea back in 1858. A five-act play in prose set in the thirteenth-century. The play opened at the old Christiania...
, The League of Youth features a protagonist Stensgaard, who poses as a political idealist and gathers a new party around him, the 'League of Youth', and aims to eliminate corruption among the "old" guard and bring his new "young" group to power. In scheming to be elected, he immerses himself in social and sexual intrigue, culminating in such complexity that at the end of the play all the women whom he has at one time planned to marry reject him, his plans for election fail, and he is run out of town.
Productions
The initial evenings stage production saw loud applause and glowing reviews by critics in the papers. However by the second performance, Conservatives were saying it was an attack on their party, and Liberals were saying it was an attack on their party. When both sides showed up for the second performance, a loud ruckus forced the manager to plead for calm and there were continual interruptions. At the plays end, the gas lights were turned off to force the unruly mob out of the theater with fighting continuing into the streets.Though popular and often produced in Scandinavia it has rarely been staged elsewhere. There have been two known productions in the UK: on a Sunday evening in 1900 a single performance by the Stage Society with Granville Barker as Erik, Robert Farquharson
Robert Farquharson
Robert Donald William Farquharson is an Australian convicted of murdering his three sons on Father's Day in 2005 by driving them into a farm dam....
as Bastian and Edward Knoblock
Edward Knoblock
Edward Knoblock was an American-born British playwright and novelist most remembered for the often revived 1911 play, Kismet-Biography:...
as a waiter. A professional production premiering on 13 May 2011 at Nottingham Playhouse
Nottingham Playhouse
The Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in the 1950s when it operated from a former cinema. Directors during this period included Val May and Frank Dunlop.-The building:...
.
Criticism
Ibsen biographer Robert Ferguson argues that the play is funny because it is liberated from Ibsen's later famous preoccupation with the power of symbol and making every line relevant to the main issue. As Ferguson says, "This is Ibsen's most HolbergianLudvig Holberg
Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian double monarchy, who spent most of his adult life in Denmark. He was influenced by Humanism, the Enlightenment and the Baroque...
play, a comedy on human weakness which does not, like some of his later plays on weakness, end in the punishment of the weak."
It's been described as "Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
in politics".
Real persons and places
It was thought at the time Ibsen may have modeled his character Stensgaard on the rival dramatist and Liberal party leader Bjornstjerne Bjornson, however Ibsen denied any such connection and wrote a letter of apology to Bjornson, but it would be eleven years before their former friendship would be healed.The central character Stensgaard was in fact based on the real-life figure of Herman Bagger, an outsider who arrived in the town of Skien
Skien
' is a city and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Skien. Skien is also the administrative centre of Telemark county....
in the 1830s, dabbled in journalism, was elected to political office and was even involved with a scandal involving an IOU note. Other real-life caricature's include that of Daniel Hejre which was an affectionate portrait of Ibsen's father. Aslaksen the printer was based on a friend of Ibsen's from youth named N.F. Axelsen who printed the paper The Man which Ibsen had edited for nine months.
Further reading
- Ferguson, Robert. "Green in the Buttonhole, The League of Youth", Henrik Ibsen, A New Biography. Richard Cohen Books, London, 1996, 147-167.
- Koht, Halvdan. The Life of Ibsen. translated by Ruth Lima McMahon and Hanna Astrup Larsen. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.: New York, 1931.