Decorah-area readers can join Vesterheim from home this fall for a free online discussion of Henrik Ibsen’s 1884 play The Wild Duck. The October Bokprat program is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, from 7 to 8:15 p.m. Central time.
The program will be held on Zoom, allowing participants to take part without traveling to Vesterheim or attending an in-person gathering. Advance registration through the museum’s event page is required, even though the discussion is free.
How to join Vesterheim’s October discussion
Readers interested in attending should register before the event date. The registration process provides the information needed to join the Zoom meeting, including the access details for the 7 p.m. Central start.
After registering, participants can add the program to Google Calendar, iCalendar, Outlook 365 or Outlook Live. Vesterheim’s event page lists the registration process and joining information, and attendees are encouraged to review it before the discussion begins.
What “The Wild Duck” explores
Ibsen’s play centers on the Ekdal family, whose fragile peace is disrupted by Gregers Werle. Werle is an idealist determined to expose concealed truths, while the story also follows an idealistic son who reveals the duplicity of his corrupt merchant father.
Werle’s effort to rescue the people around him ultimately destroys those he hopes to help. As the family’s circumstances unravel, the drama examines deception, betrayal and the disillusionment of modern life.
The work combines serious and comic elements through comedy and satire. Vesterheim describes the play as realistic, while literary scholars have also linked it to symbolism. The drama is regarded as the first modern masterpiece in the tragicomedy genre.
Part of Vesterheim’s Bokprat series
The October event is part of Vesterheim’s recurring Bokprat series, an online book-group program focused on Scandinavian authors and Scandinavian life. The discussion continues the museum’s remote format and gives local readers a way to participate from home.
Vesterheim announced the program in August 2026. Readers interested in Scandinavian literature should complete the required registration and check the museum’s event page for the latest Zoom information before Oct. 28.