Decorah-area readers will be able to take part from home this fall when Vesterheim hosts a free online Bokprat discussion of Henrik Ibsen’s 1884 play The Wild Duck. The Zoom program is scheduled for 7 to 8:15 p.m. Central time on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026.
There is no cost to participate, but advance registration through Vesterheim’s event page is required. The page will provide the information participants need to join the meeting, including access details for the 7 p.m. start.
How to join the Vesterheim discussion
Readers planning 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.
Because the discussion will be held remotely, attendees will not need to travel to Vesterheim or gather at the museum. The online format is intended to give people in the Decorah area a way to discuss Scandinavian literature and culture from home.
Vesterheim advises registrants to check the event page again before the discussion begins for the latest Zoom details. The same page should be used both to register and to obtain the meeting information.
What Ibsen’s play explores
First published in 1884, The Wild Duck follows the Ekdal family after its fragile peace is disrupted by Gregers Werle, an idealist determined to expose concealed truths. The play also examines the relationship between an idealistic son and his corrupt merchant father, whose duplicity is revealed.
Werle’s effort to rescue the people around him ultimately destroys those he hopes to help, sending the family’s circumstances into a deeper unraveling. Through that collapse, the drama explores deception, betrayal and disillusionment in modern life.
The work brings together serious and comic elements, including comedy and satire. Vesterheim describes the play as realistic, while literary scholars have also connected it with symbolism. It is regarded as the first modern masterpiece in the tragicomedy genre, giving the Bokprat group material to consider in its family conflict and its mixture 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 allows local readers to join a conversation about Scandinavian literature without attending an in-person gathering at the museum.
Vesterheim announced the program in August 2026. Readers interested in participating should register through the museum’s event page and review the page again before Wednesday, Oct. 28, for current Zoom access information.