There’s a real temptation to watch the watchers during A Doll House. That’s not to say your eyes should stray for too long from the stage, but the audience’s reaction to Irish company Pan Pan Theatre’s wildly inventive adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s classic is a sight in itself.
Based on my own flawed observation, the elders in the crowd sat through even the most physically and psychologically comical moments, arms firmly crossed, with expressions that said ‘Don’t you dare smile – it’s Ibsen’. In contrast, a group of teenagers at the World Theatre Festival premiere, still dressed in maroon school uniforms, giggled and guffawed throughout, almost relieved to experience the work as a something of a black comedy and not an intimidating, hoop-skirt and lace 19th century drama. Of course, there’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to react and there’s even a sense Pan Pan takes delight in the ripples of confusion their production sends out into the stalls.
A Doll House opens with Nora (Judith Roddy), skipping and humming, throwing baubles like confetti. It’s Christmas and Nora’s husband Torvald (Dermot Magennis) has just received a promotion at work. With Nora’s friend Christine (Pauline Hutton) in town and the ailing but cheerful Dr Rank (Daniel Reardon) dropping by the house, it’s cause for celebration indeed. However, disgruntled employee Krogstad (Charlie Bonner), set to lose his job under Torvald, pays Nora a visit, carrying a letter that could not only ruin her reputation, but the relationship on which her entire persona is built.
Wildly popular to this day, A Doll House (also translated in English as A Doll’s House) is one of Ibsen’s most performed works and this experimental take is contemporary and spellbinding, without muddling the playwright’s intent. The play frequently references pop culture, whether it be an impromptu Les Miserables duet or Nora recalling her days employed at David Jones. And the references aren’t always played for laughs either – a Carpenters sing-along is hauntingly mellow. It all goes right up to the edge of ‘too much’. Director Gavin Quinn is more concerned with life and energy than he is with absolute accessibility.
Despite Áine Ní Mhuirí’s admirable delivery, I’m still no fan of stage directions and author notes read aloud before each act. It seems a trend for classics with a stripped-back design and it’s one I doubt I’ll ever understand or appreciate. For the most part, actors address their lines directly to the audience and dialogue is often lifted with sharp, stark lighting changes. Their space is mostly bare, save for a few pillars and ultra-real cardboard cut-outs of the performers, used sparingly like paper dolls.
To their credit, every supporting character is deeply realised, anything but cardboard, but it’s Roddy’s outrageous, slapstick and completely heartbreaking portrayal of Nora you’ll remember for years to come. Roddy is so charming, so likable and yet so manipulative that by the third act, you too will be questioning just what it was you saw in her and wanted her to be from the get-go.
A Doll House might be the most baffling, mad, infectiously passionate interpretation of a classic you see this year. But what would Ibsen make of it all? What would he make of his heroine’s toddler-like tomfoolery, the superhero costumes in place of corsets, the aggressive, absurdist sex? He might cackle or smile or he might merely cross his arms to take it all in. In any case, who cares?
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Pan Pan Theatre and World Theatre Festival present
A Doll House
By Henrik Ibsen
Directed by Gavin Quinn
Cast: Charlie Bonner, Pauline Hutton, Dermot Magennis, Áine Ní Mhuirí, Daniel Reardon, Judith Roddy.
Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse.
February 13 – February 17
World Theatre Festival, Brisbane
www.worldtheatrefestival.com.au
13 – 24 February
