A Bee in the Heart of Her

If Nora Helmer, Henrik Ibsen’s famous female protagonist, could speak anything besides Henrik’s text, what would she say? How about Hedda Gabler, Mrs. Sørby from The Wild Duck or Ellida Wangel, The Lady From the Sea? Can characters express themselves beyond their playwright? In song, perhaps?
This is exactly where Sibyl Kempson’s alchemical new work A Bee in the Heart of Her comes in. Over the course of a weaving workshop for recovering Ibsen women led by Mrs. Sørby in a rundown community center, these trailblazing characters confront mistranslations, misunderstood origins, mistaken fates, mansplaining and everything else that Ibsen got wrong, in detail.
With Kempson’s lyrical text set to original music composed by Robert M. Johanson (Nature Theater of Oklahoma), these women tell their own stories and finally set the record straight, once and for all.
Sibyl Kempson and Daniel Brunet received a 2022 Ibsen Scope Grant from the Ibsen Scope Festival in Skein, Norway, which is dedicated to highlighting world issues through the works of Henrik Ibsen.

Written by Sibyl Kempson | Directed by Sibyl Kempson and Daniel Brunet | Original Music by Robert M. Johanson | Performed by Sibyl Kempson, Robert M. Johanson and Daniel Brunet | Lighting Design by Christian Maith | Projection Mapping by Gabby Espana and Raine Wofford | Assistant Directors: Alejandra Rodríguez González and Stanislava Švekušová | Production Assistant: Joseph Schumm