Following Samuel Adamson‘s recent Little Eyolf and Lucy Kirkwood’s Hedda, Zinnie Harris became the latest playwright to update Ibsen with her much-anticipated new adaptation of the Norwegian’s 1879 masterpiece A Doll’s House, which opened last night at the Donmar Warehouse (See Today’s 1st Night Photos).
Kfir Yefet directs a star-studded cast of Gillian Anderson (Nora), Toby Stephens, Christopher Eccleston, Tara Fitzgerald, Maggie Wells and Anton Lesser (See News, 27 Mar 2009). It continues at the Donmar until 18 July 2009.
Overnight critics generally enjoyed the performances of an “outstanding company”, but most were less flattering in their assessment of Harris’ adaptation. Whatsonstage.com’s Michael Coveney deemed it a “slack, anachronistic text”, while the Daily Telegraph‘s Charles Spencer accused the writer of taking “some liberties” with the original. But on the whole it was agreed that, largely due to the strength of the performances (Anderson and Stephens making for a “devilishly handsome” pairing), the long wait for this star-filled Doll’s House was worth it.
– by Theo Bosanquet & Ava Morgan