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'A Doll House': Ibsen á la Sirk

Luna Playhouse adaptation moves the action to the 1950s.

December 21, 2007

Henrik Ibsen meets Douglas Sirk in the Luna Playhouse's gripping "A Doll House." This fine adaptation of Ibsen's drama moves the action to the 1950s and envisions its protagonist, Nora Helmer, as a repressed suburban housewife. In a marvelous performance, Georgan George probes Nora's complexity with searchlight intensity and ruthless precision.

Using a translation by Rick Davis and Brian Johnston, the production moves at a brisk pace. Nora is a compliant wife who lives under the benevolent tyranny of her husband, Torvald (Jonaton Wyne), a wealthy banker. On Christmas Eve, an unexpected visit threatens to destroy her sense of domestic order. One of Torvald's employees, a shady fellow named Nils Krogstad (Sila Agavale), fears he will be laid off and tells Nora he'll reveal a secret about her past that could destroy her marriage.

Director Aramazd Stepanian heightens the artificiality of the acting and the design, giving the story a melodramatic sweep. The '50s setting feels inspired by Sirk's Hollywood weepies ("All That Heaven Allows," "Written on the Wind"), especially in its bright colors, deep shadows and overall atmosphere of loss and regret.

Updating the play also allows the production to address the issues of race (Wyne is African American) and nascent feminism. Nora's emotional awakening in the third act carries overtones of the coming women's liberation movement. ... themes quietly hinted at ...

George's performance as Nora brings astonishing clarity to a famously difficult role. The actress is called on to play meek, coquettish, nervous, angry and ultimately liberated, and she cuts a clean path through this thicket of emotions. Her remarkably assured portrayal makes "A Doll House" worth revisiting.

Georgan George, Jonaton Wyne, Fernanda Kelly, Sila Agavale and Allan Poe as Dr. Rank

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‘Bailegangaire’ Offers Stunning Allegorical Insight Into the Heart of the Irish

Tolucan Time Review

A Doll House, by Henrik Ibsen

The prisons we create are often our own.
Photos courtesy of Levon Parian. The jailor is our friend and enemy. And just because the door to freedom is open, it doesn’t always mean we walk out. Sometimes we need to be prodded out. Ibsen’s A Doll House is a story of a woman willing to sacrifice everything for her husband’s position. A lie that has remained dormant for too long has festered into a cancer that threatens their very livelihood.
A Doll House takes place in late 1950’s Northern Europe. It is Christmas time. The Helmer household seems like a perfectly happy upper-middle class suburban family, but is it? Nora is a pretty housewife without a care in the world, until the past comes back to dissolve her astutely made façade. Torvald is a nice and supportive husband, but only on his terms. He exists for status for himself; his wife and children are mere extensions.
The indiscretion that causes the conflict and discord within Nora is a loan made that she fraudulently signed. Torvald could be indicted as well, which would cause him to lose his job and his reputation, and they would be subjected to social ostracism. Nora wants to tuck this ugly fact away by any means possible. It is when she concedes to take her own life to save face when she discovers a beautiful truth about herself.
The performers were convincing. Fernanda Kelly as Kristine and Sila Agavale were particularly powerful in their command of the stage. Director Aramazd Stepanian kept the pace of a dated script with a contemporary edge. Recommended.

A Doll House is playing through Jan. 19, 2008 at the Luna Playhouse, 3706 San Fernando Rd. in Glendale. For more information, please call (818) 500-7200 or visit www.itsmyseat.com.

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