Louise, a young woman from rural Sweden, arrives in Paris at the height of the Belle Epoque. Swept up in all this magical world has to offer, she soon falls under the spell of the city’s most revered sculptor. Torn between liberation and tradition, fantasy and reality, Louise begins to question whether the life she has always known is really the life she wants to live.
Ducdame Ensemble presents the North American premiere of this Scandinavian classic: a semi-autobiographical play written by the real woman who inspired both Hedda Gabler and Miss Julie.
DEsire. DEcision. DEstruction. Ducdame Ensemble.

The desire for requited, passionate and lifelong love is the subject of countless dramas, but few explore the longing so achingly as Victoria Benedictsson’s The Enchantment. Ducdame Ensemble Theater Company brings the forgotten Scandinavian text to life for the first time ever in the US, thanks to a translation from the Swedish Arts Council. Benedictsson, a Victorian writer ahead of her time, crafts a compelling play about the conflict between a young woman’s expectations for love and domestic happiness, and her dangerous attraction to a man who doesn’t fit the mold. Tommy Lexen’s translation/adaptation of the neglected classic, directed by Lucy Jane Atkinson, is as engaging as it is historically faithful, letting the play’s enduring relevance speak for itself. Set in late 19th-century Europe, the story follows Louise Bergström (Fiona Mongillo), a fragile, waif-like woman easily swayed by the power of her own emotions. While escaping to Paris after a family tragedy, she meets the mysterious Monsieur Alland (Matthew DeCapua), a womanizing artist with a long trail of scorned lovers and casual trysts. The self-aware Alland acknowledges his power over women and his preference for fleet …Read more