The play "A Doll's House," written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in 1879, offers a radically different perspective on gender roles, compared to how the modern viewer might perceive them. It realistically depicts marriage norms of the 19th century, which stand in stark contrast with those of today. A performance based on Ibsen's original play was brought to the AUBG audience on April 13-14 at Mladejki Dom. It was an independent project directed by senior Siyka Doneva, who was also the director of "Play" by Samuel Beckett this semester. 

The play revolves around the married couple Nora (junior Anna Shegurova) and Torvald Helmer (sophomore Marko Lubarda). Torvald is a dry, sensible bank manager who takes good care of his family but treats his wife like a child, believing that she is incapable of taking care of herself. Nora had secretly borrowed a large sum of money from Mr. Krogstad (first-year student Anton Meliov) to take care of her father when he was ill, which at that time was an unthinkable thing for a wife to do without her husband's knowledge and permission. 

When Krogstad is fired by Torvald, he threatens Nora with public exposure of her deed. Nora's fear of disgrace and her husband's potential anger drive her to attempt suicide, which demonstrates the extent of society's pressure on women to uphold traditional housewife values. 

The small cast was successful at bringing the play to life and creating the authentic atmosphere of the age the characters lived in. Shegurova was effective in portraying the character's anxiety and emotional turmoil. Lubarda did a great job shifting from the calm, rational character that Torvald is at the beginning, to the crazed man and husband who faces public embarrassment. 

The actors worked well on stage, where, as usually during AUBG theater productions, the props were the same throughout the play. Although the action was slow at the beginning, it picked up pace, becoming intense and intriguing towards the end, with several comic moments diversifying the performance.

The culmination of the play shows how Nora packs her things and decides to leave her husband. She comes to the realization that during her whole life she has been treated like a doll, both by her father and then by her husband; that her marriage has been a playground, and that she has had to pretend to be something she was not. She abandons her duties as a wife and mother to take care of her duties to herself.

Comments

petra

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Henrik Ibsen did a great thing having written "A Dolls' House" (the movie is now free for download at http://www.picktorrent.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.picktorrent.com ). I can read and watch it endless number of times and each time find something new and have thus food for thought

Monday 10 August 2009, 12:18

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