Danny Gavigan (Resident Company Member) as Torvald and Megan Anderson as Norah (Resident Company Member). Photo by Kiirstn Pagan Photography.
Henrik Ibsen’s three-act play, “A Doll’s House,” was published in 1879 in Copenhagen and sold 13,500 copies within the first three months. The world premiere at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen opened that same year. The play is set in a Norwegian town in 1879 and is the story of a marital relationship gone askew from the wife’s point of view, involving her criminal activity in a bank fraud scheme. Throughout the remainder of his life, Ibsen denied that it was a “feminist” play, although in Norway at that time, the male-dominated society restricted opportunities for women. The play caused much controversy in examining the failure of a marriage, considered a holy sacrament by 19th century Europeans. George Bernard Shaw championed Ibsen’s description of humanity as “an examination of society without prejudice.” Ibsen himself stated: “I must disclaim the honor of having consciously worked for the women’s rights movement…without any conscious thought of making propaganda.” Yet, in a pre-publication note, he states: “A woman cannot be herself in modern society…an exclusively male society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess feminine conduct from a masculine standpoint.”
As the play grew in popularity, it ran into a snag in 1880 in Germany when the renowned actress Hedwig Niemann-Raabe refused to perform the play because she did not approve of the ending. Since it was not protected by copyright, Ibsen became fearful that another dramatist would rewrite it and felt forced to write an alternate ending which he labeled a “barbaric outrage.” Lack of success and public outcries finally convinced Ms. Raabe to perform the play with the original ending. Since then, productions are allowed to use either ending. The first American production was in Louisville, KY in 1883 and opened on Broadway in 1889 with Beatrice Cameron playing the wife. It has been revived and translated into more than 30 languages and produced many times, most recently this year with Jessica Chastain. There have also been numerous film, TV, and radio play adaptations, as well as an historical novel and ballet.
We are left not with a triumph of the women’s rights movement, but with the author’s intent to portray a human being searching for happiness.
Written and directed by Joanie Schultz, this 90-minute adaptation that opens Everyman Theatre’s new season is like tasting Campbell’s soup before adding the water—an almost instant, intense burst of flavor that lingers on in condensed form. In a very informative program Q&A, Schultz states: “By taking the air out of the play and not giving the audience a break, we are more able to feel the incredible pressure that Ibsen’s characters are feeling…I want the audience to feel that tension with no breaks to get a drink in the lobby.” Her task was very cleverly editing things that were “stylistically dated”—for example, “soliloquies that describe someone’s inner thoughts and feelings—and then “making the characters and their relationships more complex.” In so doing, she has acknowledged both the time period and place of Ibsen’s writing, emphasizing realism over romanticism, leaving the audience to relate the meaning of the play to the current day.
The pace of the action, the speed of the dialogue, and the momentum of the plot were such that the audience was put on an emotional edge of its seat. At one point, Megan Anderson’s Nora Helmer did such a frenzied dance in Spanish fashion that I thought the character was headed for collapse or a nervous breakdown. Her portrayal was a tour de force of excellent acting. As her husband Torvald, Danny Gavigan did a superb job in following the director’s intent not to make the character a villain. Instead, he showed a restrained affection (he refers to his wife as “my little squirrel” and “my songbird”) and a controlling nature typical of the 19th century, Norwegian husband (he allots her a weekly “allowance”). Bruce Randolph Nelson, as family friend Dr. Rank, has a magic of tone and small motions that make his characterization sympathetic to the audience. You can feel his affection for Nora; his desire to relieve her stress; and his muted acceptance of terminal illness. Tuvet Thi Pham as Nora’s friend, Kristine Linde, and James J. Johnson as the blackmailing bank clerk, Nils Krogstad, adeptly offer characters who use their past involvement to reconnect in a way that not only furthers the complicated plot, but who attest to the difficulty of maintaining relationships outside of marriage. As the nanny Anne Marie, Helen Hedman emphasizes the importance of a good characterization in a small role. She offers her employer a reserved sympathy indicated by gesture and tone of her lower social status, and, with great hand and arm movements going offstage, makes us imagine the presence of the unseen children.
The creative team at Everyman adds so much enjoyment to each production. T. Carlos Roberts’ sound design (with original music played during audience seating and during scene changes) hurled the audience forward with strong, intense rhythm to further our anticipation. David Burdick’s costumes reflected the Victorian tradition of dark colors, high necklines, vests, and topcoats—attire that was very tight and constricting, reflecting the characters’ stress. Chelsea Warren’s scenic design included a grandfather clock; dark wood and upholstered furniture; muted holiday decorations and a tree; a black front door surrounded by a huge backdrop curtain with multiple designs; and the sides of the stage masked in black. This further helped create a stifling atmosphere. Ada M. Jackson’s lighting design utilized chandeliers with electric candles as well as backlighting of the curtain and the face of the clock as it whirls forward during the scene changes to indicate the passage of time—a clever effect
The play usually ends with Nora leaving and slamming the door—a controversial, 19th century way of ending a marriage and abandoning husband and children. But the director adds a sudden special effect to this door slam, bringing relief to Nora and the audience. We are left not with a triumph of the women’s rights movement, but with the author’s intent to portray a human being searching for happiness.
Running Time: One hour and 30 minutes with no intermission.
“A Doll’s House” runs through September 29, 2023, at Everyman Theatre, 315 W. Fayette Street, Baltimore MD 21201. For more information and to purchase tickets, call the Box Office at 410-752-2208, Monday through Friday, 10 am – 4pm, or Saturday, 12 noon – 4 pm, or go online.
