The Norwegian playwright and poet Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) is widely recognised as the founder of modern drama. He wrote in total 26 plays throughout his lifetime. His conquest of the theatre over the past hundred years - first in Scandinavia, and then very quickly in Europe and North America and subsequently also in Asia, Latin America and Africa - makes him one of the most frequently performed playwrights in the world today. Ibsen's works are also subject to extensive research. Plays like A Doll's House, An Enemy of the People, Hedda Gabler, Peer Gynt etc. are included in the curriculum of educational institutions in different countries. Professional theatre training institutes use Ibsen's texts for training programmes in acting and direction. Henrik Ibsen is, however, a living playwright - theatre directors and scholars are continuously making use of new approaches and searching for new interpretations. In 1906, Max Reinhardt, Gorden Craig and Vsevolod Meyerhold made separate productions which all focused on the "inner voice" of Ibsen's plays and thereby departing from the realistic approach which up to then had been dominating. Other major theatre directors who have reinterpreted or deconstructed the plays include Ingmar Bergman, Peter Stein, Peter Zadek, Jonathan Miller and Robert Wilson. This, along with new theatrical expressions, creates interest also among the young generation for the old master's plays. Ibsen's works have also inspired visual artists, film makers and music composers as well as composers of operas, ballets and contemporary dance. Ibsen's influence has, however, gone far beyond the arts. Sigmund Freud used characters in Ibsen's plays as case-studies in neurosis. Moreover, Ibsen has influenced language, for example in China where women's movement is referred to as "noraism". Moving to South Asia, it can be observed that modern and contemporary writers, including Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, have been influenced by Ibsen.

Ibsen focused on issues - rather than circumstances - which continue to be at the centre of the social debate and the self-reflection of the individual. The focus is often on human beings who challenge the prevailing norms and values of society. Through the plays, Ibsen proves to be a sharp observer of human and social conditions and human relationships. He deals with existential issues with which the individual is confronted, explores how behaviour is guided by hidden motives and how the individual is related to other human beings and to society at large. These are all universal issues, the relevance of which is not bound by time or space. But Ibsen does not give answers - he merely points out the questions. Moreover, the complexity of the plays with parallel action lines and plots give rise to a variety of interpretations.

The International Conference and Theatre Festivals of Ibsen Commemoration 2006 in Bangladesh will provide opportunities for scholars and theatre practitioners from different countries for having fruitful interaction which can serve as a vehicle for further exploring of Henrik Ibsen's works.

The International Ibsen Conference and Theatre Festival will be inaugurated on 11 May at 10.00 at National Theatre Auditorium, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy by Begum Selima Rahman, hon'ble State Minister in-charge of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.