A Doll s House
A Doll’s House at the New Ambassadors Theatre
Last time around, Polly Teale s Shared Experience Theatre brought a marvellously atmospheric production of Jane Eyre to the stage of the New Ambassadors. This time, it s a highly enjoyable staging of Ibsen s classic A Doll’s House, which although separated by years and geographical setting from the Bronte novel, is thematically very similar.
Both tales explore madness, are set in bleak landscapes, and have a proto-feminist slant to them, with the protagonists standing up to dominant males.
Where Jane Eyre ends in marriage, however, with A Doll’s House, it s more a case of ‘reader, I dumped him’, as heroine Nora manages to free herself of the patronising, moralising shackles of smug banker Torvald to become a homeless, though independent woman.
What s inspiring about this play (translated here by Michael Meyer), is the sea-change that the heroine undergoes, how you eventually realise there s more to her than a silly girl with a taste for macaroons, and that she s actually a strong and very organised woman. The only problem is, that in saving the life of her vain husband, she shoulders the burden of a secret debt, which causes grief for herself and those around her.
Teale, working with co-director Yvonne McDevitt, hasn t re-invented Ibsen but has definitely re-invigorated it. So if your image of this play is of a stuffy social drama, you ll be pleasantly surprised.
As ever, many of the delights of this Shared Experience production are visual. This starts right from curtain up where Anne Marie Duff s Nora slowly extricates herself, in the manner of a contortionist, from an actual-sized doll s house to represent the claustrophobia of her marriage. This carefully choreographed, stylised manner of presentation continues throughout the play, lending an expressionist feel to the production. And it s still there in the denouement, when the walls of designer Angela Davies large drawing room open on hinges to allow the heroine to break free of the doll s house she’s been trapped in.
Teale and McDevitt have between them made some inspired casting choices, with two coloured actors in key roles: Paterson Joseph as a charming, though menacing Torvald, and Jude Akuwidke as a spectre-like Krogstadt. But Duff shines out particularly as Nora, portraying a highly believable woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
It is, as I ve said, a highly expressionistic production, and that s thanks in no small part to Gary Yershon s disturbingly effective sound design. This points up the dramatic moments of the play, and even gives it something of a filmic quality.
What Teale and McDevitt have proved at the New Ambassadors is that Ibsen s drama can still be relevant to modern day audiences, 120 years after it was written. The issues seem as contemporary and resonant as ever, especially presented in this fresh, appealing manner.
