John Gabriel Borkman

In Henrik Ibsen’s moody, measured but ultimately thrilling work, human beings have been reduced to commodities, to be traded and haggled over by various parties; the play's arrogant antihero (Alan Rickman), a disgraced ex-banker, feels more connection to deep-buried ore than to his estranged wife (Fiona Shaw) or her sister (Lindsay Duncan), whom he once loved. James Macdonald’s superbly acted, starkly gorgeous production treads a tricky line between naturalism and expressionism.—David Cote