Displaying items by tag: Tiffany Renee Johnson

Is love a commodity? Ibsen’s enduring drama “A Doll’s House” has asked audiences for over a century. Writers Theatre unveils a new 90 minute pared-down adaptation penned by Sandra Delgado and directed by Lavina Jadhwani. 

“A Doll’s House” is one of Ibsen’s most known plays. It tells the story of a society woman, Nora (Cher Alvarez) and her struggles with money. Her husband Torvald (Greg Matthew Anderson) patronizes her like she’s one of the children, as long as she plays the happy wife. All seems joyful until a childhood friend, Christine (Tiffany Renee Johnson), comes to ask a favor. Nora, though docile, has her own secrets and when a debt comes due, she must act in order to protect her husband’s reputation. 

Ibsen and Chekhov make some theatre-goers groan. Classic theatre can often be a long evening, but Delgado takes the lengthy work and shortens it down to a one-act without intermission. Her script begs the question, is that necessary? Translations can make all the difference in how we perceive classic works of literature. One translation can vastly differ from another and their authors are usually long dead. It’s hard to say if their intentions translate. In the case of Writer’s adaption of “A Doll’s House” it somewhat misses the mark. 

Performances are good, but they overshadow a wooden script. There’s a degree of inconsistency from line to line. Some dialogue is perfectly modern while other parts seem like a more literal word for word translation that leaves out most of the passion. Unfortunately streamlining this script for a 90-minute run time edited out the poetry, or any memorable strands of dialogue for that matter. This production feels more like a SparkNotes summary of the original rather than an adaptation. 

Cher Alvarez’s Nora is the heart and soul of this production. She breathes life into the clunky dialogue and by the end she’s the only character to elicit much emotional response from the audience. Her performance serves as the depth that’s missing from Delgado’s script. Greg Matthew Anderson as the doting husband Torvald, adds dimension to the character who is otherwise pretty flat. Which is just the issue here, it’s as if the playwright wrote caricatures of Ibsen characters in order to shift the focus toward a grander point about loveless marriages. That point never really solidifies and it’s up to the audience to decide what Ibsen’s intentions were. 

There’s been a renewed interest in this classic as Lucas Hnath’s Broadway smash hit “A Doll’s House Part 2” (2017) is one of the most produced plays in America right now. And there’s good reason, it’s a great modern take on the themes originally explored by Ibsen. There’s an edge to his sort of sequel. There’s no edge in this current production at Writers Theatre. For Ibsen purists, this production will be disappointing but those with a tepid interest will be rewarded by the short run time and outstanding performances. 

Through December 15 at Writers Theatre - 321 Tudor Court, Glencoe. 847-242-6000