Displaying items by tag: A Doll's House

Raven Theater has a penchant for aptly timed revivals, and their production of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House is no exception. Published and set circa 1879 in Norway, the play offers a snapshot of domestic life at the time, reminding us how much progress has been made since then -- and warning us not repeat history.

Nora is a happy wife with a loving husband, three children, and a comfortable home. Everything seems grand, until the cracks start to show in the veneer of their supposed domestic happiness.

Husband Torvald, smiling, makes passive-aggressive comments to his wife about her spending habits, even though she's merely purchased some Christmas gifts for the children. Nora, of course, is not allowed to work to earn her own money either. In other words, money is a catch-22 for Nora, and for Torvald's it's a way to assert dominance. He spends most of his time holed up in his study, occasionally checking in on his wife and making sure she knows her place, calling her gentle pet names like "songbird" and his "doll."

Little does Torvald know or even deign to imagine that Nora has hopes, fears, opinions, and secrets of her own that she works to hide from him. In this house, she knows it is not her place to be her own person; that is the husband's job. She is meant to decorate, care for the children alongside the nanny they already hire to care for the children, tend to her husband, and dance well at parties.

Nora is not even allowed to open the household mailbox, to which only Torvald has a key, yet another way for him to keep her under his thumb. The locked mailbox serves as a tangible symbol of the world, life, and opportunities that Nora can't access due to her position and gender. For all intents and purposes, she's a prisoner in her own domestic life, requiring permission from the warden, her husband, for anything she may need or want.

There's satisfaction in watching Nora realize over the course of the play what kind of man her husband really is, and actress Amira Danan deftly conveyed this transformation from bright and cheery to wise and wary. Whether or not she escapes her prison I'll leave a mystery. But I will leave you with the fun fact that this play caused significant controversy when it went into production in 1879.

According to playwright Ibsen at the time A Doll's House was written, "a woman isn't allowed to be herself in modern society." While that, thankfully, has changed, it should be pointed out that it was not so long ago Ibsen said this -- less than 150 years -- and to see this dynamic of the controlling husband and stifled wife play out onstage serves as a stark reminder of how far we've come, and where not to go again.

A Doll's House is playing through March 22 at Raven Theatre at 6157 N Clark St. Tickets and schedule here. 

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

“I’m a better version of myself, when I’m by myself,” says Nora in Lucas Hnath’s sequel to Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’. The play takes place some fifteen years after her departure at the end of the original play. Steppenwolf is one of the first regional theaters to revive the 2017 Broadway blockbuster, which starred Steppenwolf ensemble member Laurie Metcalf. Both Hnath and Metcalf were nominated for Tony awards for the play, Metcalf taking home the Best Actress award.

With the exception of ‘Grease 2’, sequels are rarely good. That said, it’s an interesting thing when done in theatre. In recent years we’ve seen a sequel to ‘Hamlet’, ‘The Crucible’ and now Ibsen’s feminist drama ‘A Doll’s House’. Before groaning, “but they’re ruining it!” consider that Hnath’s script stands alone and is probably closer to a satire than a direct sequel. ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2’ picks up at the very door Nora slams at the end of Ibsen’s play. It is fifteen years later, and she comes back with a favor to ask of her ex-husband. What follows is a humorous manifesto in defense of being single. And no, you don’t need to remember the fine points of Ibsen’s original to enjoy Hnath’s updated version.

Sadly, Laurie Metcalf is not joining this revival but that’s just fine because ensemble member Sandra Marquez is well suited for the role. It’s a short play, just barely hitting the 90-minute mark, but in that time there’s a perfect banter between Nora and her former governess Anne-Marie, played by the indelible Barbara E. Robertson. Marquez spends every moment of the play on stage and that often includes swaths of monologue. In a costume designed by Izumi Inaba, her performance is captivating. She nails all the jokes and maybe even finds new humor in the script. Though short, her scene with Celeste M Cooper is ripe with tension. Cooper plays her estranged daughter with a cool and mysterious sense of doublespeak.

If a ‘A Doll’s House’ is about the suffocation of marriage, then ‘Part 2’ is more of a denunciation of pairing off in general. In fact, Nora mentions that you’re not marrying the person you’ll end up with, you’re marrying who they are right now. And people change. This observation alone is somewhat disturbing but truly encapsulates the message Hnath is getting at. The play ends abruptly but the point is made. Maybe being alone isn’t the worst thing in the world, but like Marquez’ performance, it takes a lot of strength to stand on one’s own.

Director Robn Witt’s vision for this show is cool. We would imagine that anything in the world of Ibsen would be typical high production cost period piece. Witt strips it down for a minimal approach, nearly the only color is the bright yellow door Nora comes in, and then out of again. The costumes suggest period, but the dialogue is exceptionally modern. Though there are Voss water bottles on stage, we never forget what time period we are in. ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2’ at Steppenwolf is a near perfect revival that doesn’t go in for a carbon copy of the Broadway production. A major difference is that there’s on-stage seating for an even more intimate look. A good example of why it’s usually best to skip the national tour if you live in Chicago.

Through March 17 at Steppenwolf Theatre. 1650 N Halsted. 312-335-1650