I buy a program as I enter the auditorium and squint in the half-light reading. For a moment I am a little put off. A Doll’s House is a completely new work to me, I’ve heard it mentioned in novels but never bothered to go beyond remembering the play is by Henrik Ibsen. It feels like I have made a mistake. Who was I to think I should be at a show where the playwright has thought about how ‘when adapting a classic you are asking the audience to sever their current relationship with the play, plus be open enough to consider a completely new rendering’? I didn’t even have a relationship for the playwright to sever and on reflection, I don’t think it matters whether you have or have not had a relationship with this play. A Doll’s House was written by Ibsen as commentary on society and Elena Carapetis has done her adaptation in the same way. Carapetis has kept her nostalgia for the play locked away and so have the rest of the creative team, resulting in a play that feels new despite being based on an over 100 year old text.
A Doll’s House has always been a play that tricks you into looking at society’s rules; Carapetis’ takes the same approach. It’s Christmas time and Nora (Miranda Daughty) is buzzing with child-like joy as she prepares to makes the perfect Christmas for her now financially worry-free family. However, when old school friend, Kristine (Rachel Burke) arrives unexpectedly with tales of personal hardship, Nora lets Kristen in on her own secret hardship. From that moment on, the secret starts to evolve out of her control, tearing apart the façade of her perfect life and forcing herself and the audience to look at what happens when a person follows society’s cultural rules. The plot is naturally captivating due to the effects of the secret. What is particularly impressive about this work is the balance between demonstrating the different cultural constraints men and women face, whilst using it as a tool to enhance the surrounding action. Carapetis does this by making the constraints shape the characters decisions: Nora’s sick friend, Dr Rank, hides his despair from Nora’s husband but reveals it to Nora. It demonstrates the cultural rules surrounding men hiding their emotions and also gives Nora more things to stress over. The only question that lingers in my mind is about Nora’s daughter, she sits through numerous yelling sessions; yet because she has headphones on and a screen to look at, she is oblivious to it all. This wretches me from the story because headphones are not that good at blocking out sound and I feel cheated by not seeing how the events around the child affect her. It also feels like a tacky message about the relationship children have with technology: when a child is in front of a screen they are uncaring of what else it happening around them; that simply feels untrue.
The whole adult cast is from the State Theatre Company’s Ensemble and their performance is captivating. The Christmas dance is particularly enjoyable for all its daggy moves and sense of genuine fun produced from the cast unselfconsciously grooving. However, Rashidi Edward seems held back at times by the scope of his character, Krogstad. Krogstad is an outsider who wishes to manipulate Nora for his own benefit, and his humility is meant to show through him mentioning his children and his relationship with Kristine. The relationship is wedged in at the end and becomes an easy plot tool to solve Nora’s problem, leaving me wishing for more time to explore who Krogstad is. I realise though, that knowing Krogstad deeply is not necessary as the role, in part exists to demonstrate man’s fear of failing at being a successful provider to his children.
The set is a real treat and serves the play beautifully. A wall of lights frame the sides and back of the stage with the purple carpeted floor– it looks like luxury. The lights start to switch off as the family’s façade breaks, the set looks stripped back due to seeing through the lights frame work to he theatre’s grey walls. The set now a mirror to the pain the family has been holding inside, emphasising the dismal mood on stage. My favourite set element is the rotating block in centre stage; its almost unnoticeable movement during the bright bubbly Christmas scenes at the start create an edge of unease. The unease builds into the momentum of the play and with the block’s ability to spin faster at times, it enhances the sense of uncontrollable chaos. Geoff Cobham has designed a deceptively simple set that fully supports the play in its capacity to connect into the changing tone of the play.
A Doll’s House’s story is captivating and the surrounding performative elements support it so fully that I was hooked for the play’s duration. There are a few weaknesses that take the work a step away from perfection but really, what is a few steps? My advice for those tempted to check out some theatre this month is to put your money down on A Doll’s House. If you haven’t experienced this play before, don’t be put off by its classic status, just read the program notes after the show. The program notes contain a clue to the ending, which takes away some of the sting for a first time viewer.
A Doll’s House
Presented by: State Theatre Company of South Australia
30 June to 22 July 2017
More Information: statetheatrecompany.com.au/shows/dolls-house/
Anita Sanders 