Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House premiered in 1879 and Amy Herzog’s adaptation was written in 2023. The new version modernizes the play, setting it in an unknown year in the 20th century. Almost 150 years after being written, what’s at the core of the original script still rings with depth and poignancy. It’s no wonder that Theatre Calgary in partnership with the Arts Club Theatre Company have included this Canadian premiere as part of their season. There is something destabilizing about this narrative, and at first, it’s easy to think that the artists on stage are missing the mark. It appears their relation to each other is devoid of authenticity, and it’s natural to attribute that to the performances on stage. But every choice on stage is deliberate, everything is directed to point to the crux of the story. What happens when a woman decides that she doesn’t want to play the roles assigned to her – by men, by society, by those who depend on her? What does it mean to live for oneself and discover who you are without those roles?
The play tells of Nora Helmer (Alexandra Lainfiesta) a devoted wife and mother, who is planning for several things. Her husband Torvald (Daniel Briere) has made it into a manager position at the bank, and they will be able to breathe freely financially. The relief about the money is something that Nora speaks about with her friend Kristine Linde (Carmela Sison), when Kristine shows up unexpectedly in town. At first, Nora comes off as shallow, self involved and privileged. But has the story goes on, there is something amiss that you can’t quite put your finger on. It’s in the way Torvald speaks to his wife. It’s in the way Nora says that she and Kristine are close friends but she doesn’t recognize her friend at first. It’s in the way their family friend Doctor Rank (Marcus Youssef) says that he feels part of their family, but all the warmth is lacking in their interactions. It’s in the way the children Ivar (Dominic King) and Emmy (Daivah Rose Blankert) interact with Nora, in contrast to their nanny Anne-Marie (Elinor Holt). The tension builds when Nils Krogstad (Ron Pederson) comes to visit Nora and her world starts to crack. She did something to protect her husband and family in the past, and it is now coming back to haunt her.
It’s in the middle of the first act where the ‘people playing roles’ really shines through, and it comes out sharply through the children. They are devoid of the messiness of being children, they play nicely, they love their parents, but the fissures start to show up prominently on stage, when you realize they play their roles as good little children very well. The fissures show up too when Doctor Rank makes a confession to Nora. The audience realizes later that the doctor doesn’t really know Nora, she’s simply playing a role she thinks she is meant to play.
The talent of Lainfiesta is evident as she carries the narrative on her shoulders in the second act, when everything falls apart. Briere is a nuanced partner with her on stage, showing genuine feelings with a dash of bewilderment throughout the second act. Youssef’s performance feels a little wooden, but that was deliberate on director Anita Rochon’s part. Sison and Pederson are solid as the friendly and not so friendly secondary characters.
Amir Ofek’s set design is so simple but powerful. A giant couch in the middle of the stage that looks uncomfortable and too big for the room. It doesn’t seem to fit, pointing to the core of the story. Narda McCarroll’s lighting design along with Malcolm Dow’s sound design and composition build the tension in the play and the range of emotions that Nora goes through.
It takes some reflection to recognize that the relationships that Nora holds in her life are like bars on a cage. By the end of the play she realizes she is imprisoned. It’s all there in the dialogue, it just needs time to settle before the audience can fully internalize it.
Theatre Calgary in partnership with The Arts Club Theatre Company’s presentation of A Doll’s House runs until May 3rd. More information is available online.
Photo: (l to r) Carmela Sison (Kristine), Daniel Briere (Torvald), Alexandra Lainfiesta (Nora). (Photo: HarderLee)