Decorah-area readers will be able to discuss Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck from home this fall when Vesterheim hosts a free online Bokprat program on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026.
The Zoom discussion is scheduled for 7 to 8:15 p.m. Central time. There is no charge to participate, but advance registration through Vesterheim’s event page is required. The event page includes the information participants need to join the meeting, including access details for the 7 p.m. start.
How to join the Vesterheim discussion
Readers who plan to attend should complete the registration process before the event date. After registering, participants can add the program to Google Calendar, iCalendar, Outlook 365 or Outlook Live, according to the event information.
Vesterheim’s event page provides the registration and joining information. Participants are encouraged to check the page again before the discussion begins for the latest Zoom details.
Because the program is remote, attendees will not need to travel to Vesterheim or meet at the museum. The online format allows Decorah-area readers to participate from home while joining a conversation tied to Scandinavian literature and culture.
What readers will discuss
First published in 1884, Ibsen’s play follows the Ekdal family after its fragile peace is disrupted by Gregers Werle, an idealist determined to expose concealed truths.
The story also focuses on an idealistic son who reveals the duplicity of his corrupt merchant father. Werle’s attempt to rescue the people around him ultimately destroys those he hopes to help, and the family’s circumstances begin to unravel.
Through that collapse, the drama examines deception, betrayal and the disillusionment of modern life. It combines serious and comic elements through comedy and satire. Vesterheim describes the work as realistic, while literary scholars have also associated it with symbolism.
The play is regarded as the first modern masterpiece in the tragicomedy genre. That gives the Bokprat group an opportunity to consider both the family’s difficult conflict and the work’s combination of humor, satire and tragedy.
Part of Vesterheim’s Bokprat series
The October program is part of Vesterheim’s recurring Bokprat series, an online book group focused on Scandinavian authors and Scandinavian life. Its remote format offers local readers a way to discuss Scandinavian literature without attending an in-person gathering at the museum.
Vesterheim announced the program in August 2026. Readers interested in taking part should register through the museum’s event page and review that page again before Wednesday, Oct. 28, for current Zoom access information.