A DOLL'S HOUSE. To 31 May.

Tour

A DOLL’S HOUSE
by Henrik Ibsen in a version by Frank McGuinness.

Northern Stage Tour to 31 May 2008.
Runs 2hr 55min One interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 10 May at Oxford Playhouse.

Over-transparency in see-through modernisation.
Usually with this play, the less realistic the set in terms of a late 19th-century Norwegian drawing-room, the more contrived the production overall. Soutra Gilmour’s design - see-through Perspex walls and doors leading to a patterned wallpaper backing - is very unlike Ibsen’s setting, though it’s a good deal better than some of the overstated Helmer households there have been. It’s like a corner of a 1950s furniture showroom.

It could be a home of the period director Erica Whyman’s decided on, but it’s unlikely to have been that of conservative-minded bank manager Torvald Helmer. He would hardly have been splashing out on new furnishings; he’s only just been promoted, and is clearly still cautious about money. (The prominent out-of-period wind-up gramophone with horn presumably refers to His Master’s Voice.)

It’s soon clear Tilly Gaunt’s Nora and John Kirk’s Torvald are equally doll-like in their auto-pilot relationship. He’s condescending and certain of male authority, she’s bright and fluttery, both having been brought up to assume such roles.

This shows when Nora’s old friend Kristine visits; Gaunt’s hopeful cadences and smiles turn to nervousness when someone with tougher life–experience doesn’t respond as expected. Karen Traynor’s Kristina, with her own anxieties, sounds natural beside Nora’s thin-voiced flutings.

It makes Traynor the central figure when she’s on stage, alive to every situation – Kristina’s determination that Torvald should see the all-important letter from Krogstad has never seemed more a decision of the moment. In contrast, once Nora and Torvald’s manner has been identified it becomes repetitious, until things start changing in the second half.

Then Torvald’s rage and blindness to his wife indicate he’s a victim of the system too. By the end it seems as much his tragedy, partly because Whyman and Gaunt never fully reconcile Nora’s sudden maturity with her previous way of life.

James Woolley is a pallid, papery Rank, less right-wing seeming than some portrayals of the role, sinking into a chair at his final appearance, while Chris Myles’ Krogstad is too one-dimensionally chip-on-shoulder; though he hits the right note when grudgingly referring to the Helmers enjoying themselves dancing.

Anne-Marie: Rosalind Bailey.
Nora Helmer: Tilly Gaunt.
Torvald Helmer: John Kirk.
Krogstad: Chris Myles.
Kristine Linde: Karen Traynor.
Doctor Rank: James Woolley.

Director: Erica Whyman.
Designer: Soutra Gilmour.
Lighting: Charles Balfour.
Sound: Rob Brown.
Composer: Leif Jordannson.
Choreographers: Liv Lorent, Caroline Reece.
Assistant director: Oliver Baird.

2008-05-11 12:28:55