Well, now I can confidently say that my first experience with Ibsen’s A Doll’s House was nothing short of memorable. I hadn’t had any previous experience with this play other than knowing the time period prior to seeing it on stage, so I pretty much went into this performance blind. However, when I noticed that the show’s poster featured the main character staring at a phone screen, I couldn’t help but feel unnerved. I think the fact that I knew this was a classic play dealing with social issues of the 19th century, yet that’s not what the poster was hinting at, almost made me mad that they were trying so hard for a classic play to be modern.
With these thoughts in my mind as the show started, these feelings only heightened. Despite this, I could plainly see how the director was attempting to convey the “caged bird” experience to the audience that was also present in the classic version. Nora was either on the floor, pacing around the floor, or standing completely still while everything was happening around her, which I thought was a really interesting way of depicting one being “stuck.” The other aspect of this particular show that stood out to me was the lighting. At first I didn’t notice it, being sat close to the back of the theatre, but about a third of the way through the first act I noticed it: a large skylight projected onto the ceiling. I wondered how the lighting was changing ever so slightly, and that was my answer. I also loved how the use of the skylight represented Nora feeling caged in a different way, a way that is not as noticeable, but just as significant. It was as if the light was so far out of reach from her, which I believe speaks to the theme of the play.
Overall, I can say that while I was skeptical of what felt to be a forcefulness of modernization, I ended up enjoying the show and appreciating how the actors and directors alike portrayed the story, however different it may be from the original.
Theatre in London U of A 