A DOLL'S HOUSE. To 27 September.
Bath/Kingston-upon-Thames.
A DOLL’S HOUSE
by Henrik Ibsen translated by Stephen Mulrine.
Theatre Royal Bath in rep to 9 August.
11am 9 Aug.
2.30pm 6 Aug.
7.30pm 5 Aug.
then 9-27 September 2008 Rose Theatre Kingston-upon-Thames.
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Wed, Thu & Sat 2.30pm.
Audio-described 20 Sept 2.30pm (+Touch Tour 1pm).
Post-show talk 16 Sept.
Captioned 19 Sept.
Runs 2hr 55min Two intervals.
TICKETS: 01225 448844
www.theatreroyal.org.uk (Bath).
0871 230 1552.
www.rosetheatrekingston.org (Kingston-upon-Thames).
Review: Timothy Ramsden 31 July.
Dull décor and dour lives.
People have speculated what Nora Helmer will do after leaving her husband’s house, where adult life has been a continuation of the doll-like childhood in which her father reared her.
Yet Ibsen provides an answer in his play. It comes with Nora’s old school-friend Kristina Linde who works her way towards a new life with Nils Krogstad. Both have been damaged, by their natures or circumstances, and look for strength in each other. Potentially, it’s a union of equality, based on experience and direct understanding of life.
For single men there’s no future; Dr Rank faces death from diseases inflicted through his father’s dissoluteness, something that influences his gloomy social views. And Torvald Helmer's complacency is finally swiped away. Peter Hall’s production makes the point as Finbar Lynch’s Torvald still lounges confidently in possession of his sofa while Nora begins telling him home-truths; it takes several minutes for the new reality to sink in.
Until then, there’s been a dry judgmental manner to Torvald’s cadences, ready to snap their authority when needed, even underneath the happy moments. It’s a perfectly possible interpretation, just as the muted, high brown-green walls of Simon Higlett’s set makes a sensible statement of the reality under the Helmers’ lifestyle.
But surely Ibsen didn’t intend three hours’ provocation. Until the final fifteen minutes, early audiences could have been watching a traditional enough tense social drama, by a Norwegian Pinero. Then the playwright delivers his sideswipe. Nowadays, Torvald’s views, and certainly their expression, are unfashionable to the point of ridicule. He, and the home he’s provided, could helpfully appear more pleasant – who’d buy a doll’s-house looking this murky?
Hall uses the servants tellingly; a troubled Nora sits on the floor by children’s nurse Anne-Marie, who’s content to have found such a happy place to work. As the younger Helene, Laura Power shows excited awareness things are not right in the household.
Christopher Ravenscroft seems greyer at each appearance as the dying doctor, while Catherine McCormack is a reliable Nora. But the production seems a surprisingly routine run-through for such a much-seen play from such a major director.
Nora Helmer: Catherine McCormack.
Torvald Helmer: Finbar Lynch.
Nils Krogstad: Anthony Howell.
Dr Rank: Christopher Ravenscroft.
Mrs Linde: Susie Trayling.
Helene: Laura Power.
Anne-Marie: Vivien Keene.
Porter: Malcolm James.
Children: Jessica Clark, Maisie Kemp, Georgia Lewis, Natasha Oliver-Cork.
Director: Peter Hall.
Designer: Simon Higlett.
Lighting: Peter Mumford.
Sound: Gregory Clarke.
Music: Jonathan Fletcher.
Choreographer: Laila Diallo.
Costume: Christopher Woods.
Associate director: Tom Littler.
2008-08-04 11:48:38