Composers and their stage works 

Little Eyolf

(Lille Eyolf)

Henrik Ibsen (1894)

One of Ibsen's shortest and most sparely plotted works.

Back from a recuperative stay in the mountains where he has had a mystical experience, the frail, ineffectual Alfred Allmers resolves to give up philosophical writing and devote his time to his crippled son Eyolf. But Eyolf is drowned under mysterious circumstances, and Allmers and his passionate, domineering wife Rita, for whom he declares his love has died, pass through a series of trials by crisis, from grief to guilt, recrimination, and intended separation.

Allmer's plan to live with his deeply devoted half-sister, Asta, is dashed when he learns from her that they are not, in fact, related. When Rita proposes to dedicate her life to helping the poor children of the town, Allmers decides to stay with her, joining in her effort to make amends for their past self-centred lives.