Social Buttons

Thursday, February 6, 2014

In Context: A Doll's House

Photo by Richard Hubert Smith

A Doll's House runs at the BAM Harvey Theater from February 21—March 16. Context is everything, so get even closer to the Young Vic's critically lauded production with this curated selection of articles, videos, and original blog pieces related to the show. For those of you who've already seen it, help us keep the conversation going by telling us what you thought below.

Before the Show

Visit these links for a quick introduction to Ibsen, A Doll's House, its riveting star, and more.


Photo: Richard Hubert Smith
Article
"The Lady of the House" (Playbill.com)
Actor Hattie Morahan situates her character, Nora, in the complex context of 21st-Century feminism and more.

Article
"A 'Doll' Who Pulls Her Own Strings" (The New York Times)
Says the Doll's House director: "[Ibsen] is interested in people being true to themselves, trying to find the most honest version of themselves."

Video
“Nora: A Short Film Responding to Ibsen’s A Doll’s House” (YouTube)
Hattie Morahan and Carrie Cracknell created this moving supplement to their riveting stage production.


More on the Artistic Team 


Photo: Johan Persson

Article
My Dressing Room: Hattie Morahan (The Guardian)
“I've not got much feng shui,” confesses Morahan. “It can resemble a teenager's bedroom.”

Interview
"Carrie Cracknell: 'It's like Bringing People Into Your Dream'" (The Guardian)
The gifted young director on Ibsen, the entrapment of women, and why she loves to be in control.


Interview
"Shining Light Into Dark Corners: Q&A with Simon Stephens" (BAM Blog)
"I didn't need to deconstruct it," says the Doll's House adapter. "The structure itself was robust and radical."

Interview
In Conversation with Carrie Cracknell (BAM Blog)
Carrie Cracknell talks with Young Vic artistic director David Lan about feminism, Ibsen, marriage, and more.

Interview
BAM Blog Questionnaire: the men of A Doll's House (BAM Blog)
Dominic Rowan, Steve Toussaint, and Nick Fletcher discuss their characters, rituals, and unheeded advice.

Blog
BAM Scene: Carrie Cracknell Talks to Friends of BAM Members (BAM Blog)
Carrie Cracknell spoke to BAM members about A Doll's House in an exclusive event moderated by Princeton professor and Ibsen scholar Michael Cadden.

More on Ibsen and A Doll's House


Article
“Ibsen and Realism” (Ibsen.net)
What makes A Doll's House an important realist drama? According to one critic of the time, it “put problems under debate.”

Interview
Are You As Smart as a High Schooler? A Doll's House Edition (BAM blog)
BAM Education instructor Josh Cabat explains the process behind his study guide for the production, and how to make Ibsen accessible to teens.

Worthwhile Words


Actor Hattie Morahan on the final scene of A Doll's House:
The strength of that gesture can’t help but resonate given when the play was written and within its historical context. But I also think that if the play were purely about that act, then it would feel dated or quite thin when in fact Ibsen has written the most extraordinarily complex and rich drama that operates on so many levels. His concerns go well beyond the gender politics of a particular era to address marriage and partnerships and love and how difficult it can be to be true to yourself, especially as a woman.

Now Your Turn. . .


So what's your verdict? Once you've seen the show, tell us what you thought in the comments below.

61 comments:

  1. The set was interesting and the music haunting. The big negative was that the sound for Hattie Morahan was inaudible in the upper orchestra. I hope this was addressed in subsequent performances.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Absolutely superb show on every level. Hard to know where to begin. Well, actually, when the set started to revolve at the very beginning, we were blown away. Not only was this visually fascinating, it had wonderful metaphoric (or literal?) resonance—it rendered the apartment a "doll's house," an effect enhanced by our seats in the balcony, looking down on the proceedings. The acting was out of this world, by everyone, and the speed and pace was perfect, the line of tension beautifully sustained, keeping us (including our 15 year old son) on the edge of our seats from start to finish. Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  3. PROBLEM: characters directed to TALK OVER each other! NO, unless one knew Ibsen's dialoque well, WORDS were lost!! ALSO, how come they didn't PROJECT, but kept things to a whisper - really tough on us in the balcony!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Liked the staging--evoked both a doll house and a maze. I thought it a good interpretation to have Nora so on edge throughout--we see the strain beneath the surface--and the actress embodied the character's tentativeness--but at times the performance was overwrought. More importantly, we don't see Nora change. The last scene became tedious--it seemed here, as elsewhere, dialogue may have been added that detracted from the original. If Nora is barely keeping it together from the beginning, then, perhaps, we could see her become calmer and calmer--manifesting the certainty of her decision to break free.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Excellent production. However, I too (sitting in the upper orchestra) found the dialogue occasionally difficult to understand because the actors - Nora especially - occasionally spoke too softly. The accents are not the problem - I am a native Londoner. However, Nora was so luminous in the role, that I forgive her.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The play was superb, and certainly even more relevant today than in the past. But the sound projection for Hattie Morahan was poor. When she faced away from the audience especially in the opening act, she was barely audible -- at least for the upper orchestra.

    The set was interesting and added to the performance but it necessitates far stronger voice projection by all the actors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My wife, daughter, and I saw the performance Sunday, and we agree with all the above regarding the high quality of the play and the production, but also the lack of projection from Ms. Morahan. We were in the lower orchestra, row J, and still had to strain to hear Nora in parts of the opening act.

      Delete
  7. Absolutely true that it does necessitate a stronger voice projection by all the actors. Otherwise, an excellent presentation of a timeless classic.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Have to join the chorus about the need to project voice(s)--I was in the "loose" seats midway between orchestra sections, so it shouldn't be a problem (I'm from Yorkshire, so maybe London accents ARE a problem !). Revolving set, acting, interpretation all brilliant...I'm sure by real opening night it will be perfect (even the baby).

    ReplyDelete
  9. had trouble especially at beginning of first act clearly hearing and understanding nora. thought male lead was excellent. good production although i realize that ibsen is not a favorite of mine. bam is doing a great job.

    ReplyDelete
  10. It completely knocked my socks off. 3 Hours flew by. Not too be missed. The staging is absolutely brilliant and the performances will live with me for a long, long time. Bravo Hattie Morahan, Bravo Carrie Cracknell.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Fine, sensitive, intelligently paced production using a harmonious adaptation (such a contrast with the version Cate Blanchett was lumbered with a few seasons back), with a uniformly good cast. Hattie Morahan nailed the final scene, and as she and Dominic Rowan played it to its end the audience (Feb 25) was utterly absorbed. Loved the set, really echoed Nora's life in the doll's house imposed by her father and her husband.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wonderful, timeless production which still resonates today. Superb performances all around especially, Hattie Morahan and Dominic Rowan, the set costumes and production values top notch, I thoroughly enjoyed this production and highly recommend! ***** 5 stars

    ReplyDelete
  13. The Best "Dolls House" I've seen-gripping performances by all especially Torvald and Nora. One of the very best BAM performances I've witnessed.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Glad I am familiar with the play (although not this version)

    COULD NOT HEAR NORA AT ALL except at the end when she got mad and sad

    ReplyDelete
  15. Brilliant production!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. unbelievable, fantastic, great show great performance. I was memorized by Hattie and the cast. Although we know this is a play performed by actors they were so superb that I really felt as if it was really happening. Didn't realize where the time went when they took the curtain call.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I loved the set design, especially the choreography of the characters to show the busy-ness of the household at the beginning and between the acts.

    The production portrayed the character of Nora in a different light than I had imagined her when I read the play on my own, so that was interesting. The performances of all the actors were great, I especially liked Dominic Rowan (Torvald), I thought he played that role to perfection.

    I saw the play from the Gallery (only seats left when I bought the tickets). The sound was great (I could hear everything) but the view was ... well the tops of the actor's heads (I guess to be expected) and the chairs were quite uncomfortable for 3 hours. Wish I could have seen it from the orchestra.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I very seldom stand to clap at the end of a play- if every production gets a standing ovation then what's the point? But I stood for this one- excellent adaptation, which made its modern relevance clear, yet the dazzling production kept us in Ibsen's world. Best production of this superb play that I've seen! Thank you all- director, actors, production folks. Cant wait for the next show from the Young Vic.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Just wonderful There was so much intrigue and a great Social comentary. Nora was superb.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Replies
    1. 'Twas! Here's a pic of little Luca: http://on.fb.me/1eW3sQc

      Delete
  21. I too sat in the upper orchestra but had no trouble hearing except for the first 10 minutes when someone behind me was coughing almost continuously and drowned out most of the dialog. I thought the set was amazing and the performances excellent.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Phenomenal performance of an amazing play - I highly recommend everyone go see it. I was blown away.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Excellent, but like many others great difficulty in hearing and understanding Nora.

    ReplyDelete
  24. First rate in every way! Loved it. Only criticism--sometimes difficult to understand what Nora was saying.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Really wonderful. Perhaps they took the notes on voice projection because I didn't miss a word. Hattie was her own bird -- I saw McTeer years ago and thought that's it but wow this was as good if not better.

    Kudos though to set design and sound which carried us through the scenes.

    Really outstanding

    ReplyDelete
  26. So unsettling. I truly can't think of one false note. That set was stupendous. I'm afraid to admit it, but at one point while it was spinning around and they were moving around the set I actually began to well up. It reaffirmed my love for theatre. No matter how big the IMAX screen or how advanced the 3D technology, film can never, ever achieve that level of intimacy and pure magic. One of the best shows and one of the very best, gripping and heartbreaking performances I've ever seen.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I thought it was great. I have read it and seen it done for years. It always seems to me to be both relevant to our current society and dated in some ways. There are flaws in the play . . . but the roles were handled very well by Nora and Torvald and the others. Nora particularly showed a consistent conflicted state . . . back and forth between being an adult and playing the doll role until she had to leave to continue the metamorphosis.I understand that. I wonder about leaving children (that is the play) and I also wonder in today's society if there would not have been room for both of them to grow up together into a new relationship without her having to leave. Not that I care about leaving one's husband, but for the sake of finally dealing with both sides of the gender issue in marriage. Would Torvold be able to rise to the occasion, as he says he will in the end. Maybe not. But, can he try or is he just too self centered, as evidenced by his lack of appreciation and understanding for what Nora has done for him until he is no longer in trouble. Not sure. But, was a very provocative production and Nora was particularly strong.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Easy to sit back and say there are flaws in the work. Have you ever written a play and especially one that will speak for the ages?

      Delete
  28. A wonderful production with excellent cast, sets/costumes, direction - just stunning in every respect - ESPECIALLY THE LEAD - what a marvel she is.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Perfect production. Best I've seen. Very moving.

    I love coming to BAM for wonderful theater.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Brilliant. I've seen the play a couple of times, but was on the edge of my seat. Monahan was fantastic, but I'd like to praise the actor who played Torvald, which is a very difficult role. I saw the McTeer production in the 1990s, and the Torvald there was older and sort of loathsome, so Nora's turnaround was easier to understand on its surface. In this one, Torvald was young, loving, and engaging, so we could get why Nora would not notice how suffocated she was by him until the moment of crisis. He genuinely can't understand why she's unhappy, and his incomprehension made sense in this production: he's not a "bad" husband, after all.

    We were in the upper orchestra and the sound projection was fine: all the voices came through loud and clear.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed! Good point!

      (BTW I could hear everything fine. [Though I was in the front, so...])

      Delete
  31. This is what theatre is all about. Unfortunately writers today don't have the gravitas to write plays like this. It was pure magic... a supreme production of a great play of the ages.

    ReplyDelete
  32. As long as you accept that this performance had nothing to do with the playwright's intention, his social commentary or his creation of one of the most nuanced women characters in theatre, it was acceptable. Othewise, pretty much of a hatchet job on Nora, who came across as mean-spirited, vapid and manipulative. Her final transformation is pretty unbelievable, her husband's condemnation nowithstanding. And that hoirrible slumpy posture: why? Most distracting thing ever.

    All in all, a director's conceit to try and make a play 'relevant,' I suppose. And the critics ate it up, as if they had never, say, seen a Shakespeare in contemporary dress.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've read several different translations and I think the director serviced the play completely.

      Delete
  33. A brilliant production of a wonderful play. Hattie Morahan was outstanding; she was totally involved in every moment of the play, her actions absolutely revealed the depth and complexity of her emotions, even in the periods when she did not speak. Her vocal range was masterful and enabled her to move from one depth to another. The supporting cast was excellent, and the total production was inspiring.
    I wish I had tickets for another performance.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Have been to almost every BAM production this year. This was the best and magnificent. I had a third row seat and felt intimate and of course heard very well. The rotating stage was so integral to the dream like quality of the unfolding narrative.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I had only read Ibsen's A Doll's House on my own, without direction, and became a fan of Ibsen, but completely missed, at that time in my life (I was very young) the motivation behind her leaving. This production brought the play completely to life for me, and left me inspired to journal about all the ways in which men and women still struggle with power in a marriage and the polarity between seduction and intimacy/honesty. The set and the choreography of of mother and children playfully weaving between rooms took my breath away. The music was haunting, and the acting impeccable. I could have used one or two moments of more revelatory stillness in Nora in the last scene, as the drama was a little too agitated for my taste, but that choice did fit with the drunken tetchiness and anxiety driving both of them. I'm so grateful to have witnessed this fine production and to have been a part of it for an evening.

    ReplyDelete
  36. This is literally the only time in my life that I've been at an Ibsen play and haven't wished I was at a Chekhov play instead. I don't know what the magic ingredient was, but I was riveted.

    ReplyDelete
  37. I loved it. The settings were innovative and Nora was portrayed with deep sensitivity. The entire production was great!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Incredible production. The set was wonderful. Obviously made to look like one of those Doll's houses we played with as kids. You know with the little rooms where you could rearrange the furniture and position the dolls. The acting was fantastic. At first I couldn't quite understand the odd posture and movement at times by Nora. Then it struck me. She looked like a Barbie Doll! Very well done.

    ReplyDelete
  39. The production was glorious, and I loved it, but having read a very positive review in The New Yorker after seeing it, I felt that the critic did not much address the socio-economic side of what's in the play. I was struck by how much the play had to say about the particular stresses on people with a middle-class sensibility. The Norway of that time was apparently very class structured and that family was living
    with servants and felt a lot of stresses to maintain all that. So, even though Nora is in a sense living a double life, feeling pressure to be seductive toward her husband so he will "excuse" her poor money management--which was actually excellent money management, all done to pay back the loan--that seductive side was itself a kind of double role, because part of Nora wants to have this level of comfortable living and cannot imagine having solved her problem in any other way. Those guys went ahead and had three children after he had decided to free-lance, a decision that he didn't have to make, but did make. All of this speaks to today's middle class exceedingly well.

    ReplyDelete
  40. I'm deeply grateful to BAM for producing so much Ibsen, my favorite ! This production seemed unspoiled by being somewhat updated. It's timeless. That last scene was truly played from the gut. I'm proud to live in Brooklyn !

    ReplyDelete
  41. Captivating! I read A Doll's house many years ago as an undergrad and was very pleased that BAM offered this show. The acting was superb! and the set invoked the notion as Nora as a living Doll. My one and only complaint is the terribly hard seats in the Harvey building.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Personally, I really enjoy watching the theatrical play, A Doll's House, based on Ibsen's novel even though I have never read the novel itself. However, watching the theatrical play has inspired me to read the novel itself. I found the way the theatrical stage was set up was rather innovative in the intricate way the different areas of the house was set up moving in a circular motion to demonstrate the different scenes of the play. I really had to love the stage set up. The acting performances delivered by Hattie Morahan as Nora Helmer, Dominic Rowan as Torvald Helmer, Nick Fletcher as Nils Krogstad, etc. were very well done in terms of the British accent, the physical gestures between the characters, and the portrayal of the different emotions between and among the characters. I have to say the actors did a very good job in the characters they portrayed within the theatrical play. Also, the props, furniture, and costumes used in the presentation of the play accented well the time period in which the play took place, which I think it might have been the Victorian Period. The presentation of the grand finale to A Doll's House was very well dramatized and presented among the two, main characters (Nora Helmer and Torvald Helmer). I felt like I was watching a movie instead of a play because 1) the darkness in the area where the audience was sitting and 2) the easiness and fluid, flawless flow in the interchanging of the scenes and the great acting among the actors, which made it feel quite believable like watching a movie in the movie theater, but in reality, it was a live, theatrical, intricate, stage play with real, live actors.

    ReplyDelete
  43. What a great performance @BAM_Brooklyn! Loved the set, the actors, the play, everything was grand about it.

    ReplyDelete
  44. I saw "A Doll's House" last night and I LOVED it! The piece still holds up in modern times and Nora's feelings about identity and having it all are still feelings and issues faced by modern women. It would be interesting for someone to do a modern take on "A Doll's House". I digress, I loved everything about this production the acting, the rotating stage, the music, the lighting and the little baby! I'm reading that a lot of people had a hard time hearing Hattie Morahan, I was sitting up in the gallery and I could hear her and all the other actors just fine. This production of "A Doll's House" gets two thumbs up from me. Keep up the good work BAM!

    ReplyDelete
  45. The following comments were sent to a friend who was very enthusiastic about the play as I was:

    "Let me start with the superlatives. It’s the best Ibsen I’ve ever seen; upsetting my longtime favorite, Diana Rigg in Hedda, many years ago on tv. This even outstripped Cate Blanchett as Hedda at BAM a couple of years ago --- by a lot.

    When have you seen a set so perfectly calibrated to the story and the stage direction? It’s miniaturization even makes the characters seem pinched, closed in, as the title prescribes. It may not have been the right period but the feeling was Scandinavian and the gramophone was a nice touch.

    My beef with most Ibsen is the husbands are always made to be dull, inert milquetoasts. Not here. This is a real live man of flesh and blood, even attractive and certainly feeling. A wonderful performance and the better it is portrayed the more you see how difficult the role is. The sexuality in all the roles was well played and sensual, which brings me to Dr. Rank. I’m not so sure it was “color blind” as you stated. Just as the live baby brought an audible ripple to the audience I suspect the consummate confessional scene with Rank and Nora brought an inaudible frisson to the audience as this magnificent blonde is confronted by the heart of darkness. In a Hedda quite some time ago I saw Keith David in one of this first NYC roles play the judge and the racial-sexual counterpoint was steamy and played for it. I couldn’t help but wonder if that were a prototype for this production.

    In the acting, Christine and Krogstad were the best I have known in those supporting but crucial roles; his Cockney Everyman was beautifully pitched and even made amazingly sympathetic and her naturalism was compelling and so lifelike in a character that is often simply made out as a bag lady. She stood in relief to Nora who for me was just too shrill, at least at the beginning, though by the home stretch when she says why she is leaving she was masterful. You liked her more than I did no doubt, since I couldn’t shake the notion that she was acting but then again her role as wife demanded precisely that as her great speech made clear at the end about having been treated the same way by both father and husband.

    My admiration for the play increased enormously and this may the triumph of her performance. It was so sensitive to gender and class in ways that seemed both prophetic and profound and she made that palpable. But so did the production flawless in every way; this is a formidable company and I’d love to see them again in whatever. Stingy as I may seem about Monahan, she is the right age and I can’t think of anyone else who could surpass her."

    ReplyDelete
  46. Saw Doll's House tonight and was spurred to learn more about its original reception. If anyone else is interested, check out these reviews of the first production. They are quite telling: http://ibsen.nb.no/id/11183651.0

    ReplyDelete
  47. Loved it! The staging was truly inspired; the revolving set created a narrative flow that was dazzling and crystal clear. The musical interludes were haunting, particularly in the third act. Terrific actors—especially the male lead, whose varying levels of emotional intensity were prismatic. I still can't quite believe that Ibsen wrote the words Nora says at the end of the play so long ago. As a woman recently divorced, after 30 years of marriage, I wanted to stand up and shout YES!

    ReplyDelete
  48. @BAM_Brooklyn. I saw A Doll's House tonight and it was just okay. It might've been the Nora character's voice or her screeching sometimes. The humor was great. I disagree that this play stands up to modern sensibilities because it seemed so dated to me and so true to the time it was written in. I would enjoy a modern interpretation for another production.

    I really enjoyed the friendship between Nora and Dr. Rank. I didn't remember this from the play which I reread about two years ago and their friendship was really rich and lovely. I thought Christine was a truthful character. But because this is such a dated play it didn't work for me that she just had to goad Nora into letting Torvald find out the truth. There were ways for Nora to keep her secret but the ending was necessary, very necessary.

    I guess I haven't seen many plays at BAM to know that the rotating stage was a thing. I remember they had it for The Masterbuilder as well. Again it worked for this production.

    I definitely will be back but I'm hoping to see more contemporary plays at BAM soon.

    ReplyDelete
  49. All hail to Hattie Morahan--the finest actress to take the stage in New York this year!!!!
    What excellent direction; what a great production and set-design; what fine ensemble acting.
    And what a great tribute to Henrik Ibsen!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you. Dr. F. B.

    ReplyDelete
  50. All hail to Hattie Morahan--the finest actress to take the stage in New York this season!
    Was a joy to see a great production & the work of a great director. Thank you 'Young Vic;'
    and what a great tribute to Henrik Ibsen--whose voice sounds here once again.
    Sincerely, Dr. F. B.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Flawless and professional work. The set design was terrific and performances were top-notch. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  52. March 22nd evening performance.
    Excellent!
    At beginning I felt Hattie Morahan was pushing too hard and was prepared to be put off, however, that dissipated very quickly and she absorbed me completely into Nora's world. Her flash of insight at the end, was completely believable. The whole cast worked very well together, the set is marvelous, and the lighting and music set the mood of the house and characters very well. We loved it.
    As we were close to the stage we were able to hear well.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Though the combined, marathon first and second acts amounted to an endurance test for folks in the upper deck -- is there such a thing as a reupholstery SWAT team? -- the British production was exceptional and old man Ibsen's play holds up even in these "post-feminist" days. Why Nora didn't express dismay earlier in a nine-year marriage, who knows? And, now, three kids without a Mom! But she had to do what she had to do -- at last. Thanks BAM for bring the stalwarts of Young Vic to Brooklyn.

    ReplyDelete
  54. The show was wonderful but the climb to the gallery and the totally uncomfortable seats made sitting through it truly difficult.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.