A Dolls House adapted and updated for 21st century

A Doll’s House by Emily Perkins
Adapted from Henrik Ibsen
Auckland Theatre Company
Maidment Theatre
Until May 23

Who is the better playwright, Henrik Ibsen or Emily Perkins? This is one of the questions that hangs over ATC’s latest production, a reworking of Ibsen’s A Dolls House which has been adapted and updated by Emily Perkins. Ibsen was an incisive writer about late 19th century mores while Perkins is a pretty astute observer of early 21st century behaviours. Overall, Ibsen probably rates 9.5 out of 10, Perkins 8.7.

In changing the late 19th century Norwegian drama into an early 20th century drama Perkins displays not just a fine literary skill but also a keen social and psychological understanding of individuals. She has retained many of Ibsen’s astute lines while creating more contemporary and relevant ones, the combination providing clever and intelligent observations.

Ibsen’s play dealt with social issues over marriage and personal anxieties about relationships, money and friendships. Perkins has done the same as well, creating characters who are recognisable New Zealanders and exhibiting 21st century concerns.

In this updated version the supposedly happy couple of Theo and Nora are on the verge of a new exciting and financially sound period in their relationship, but a secret debt incurred by Nora to help her husband comes back to embarrass her.

Nora and the other characters all have hidden secrets and conspire to keep others ignorant of them playing with issues or morality and legality.

Nora behaves like a child playing with a dolls house, creating a fantasy world where people and events can be changed without regard to reality or morality.

One element of the play that doesn’t ring true both in the original play and in this one is the suddenness of Nora’s epiphany and her decision to leave her children and husband at the end of the play. On reflection one can see elements of that decision building but neither Ibsen nor Perkins provides enough clues as to the flaws in the marriage as opposed to the growing awareness of her own moral flaws. There is no real hint of her being a damaged person.

Laurel Devine gives a brilliant portrayed of Nora with a mixture of the childish and sensuous, of calculated knowing and gauche naivety, which help build an almost schizophrenic character.

Her husband Theo is a controlling character who in subtle ways sets parameters for his wife, who then resorts to sneaky ways of undermining his authority. Damien Avery gives him an edginess that occasionally flares into rage when tested.

Nicola Kawana as Nora’s friend Christine is a nice foil to Nora with a more pragmatic approach to life, which she conveys in an elegant, feline manner while Paul Glower as Aidan, her nemesis, provides a sense of unease and menace with a smouldering aggressiveness.

Peter Elliot gave a masterly performance as Gerry, bringing an intensity of emotion highlighting not only his feelings but also conveying Nora’s own unexpressed emotions.

One of the most surprising and satisfying aspects of the play was the presence of Nora’s two children played by Zachary Cox and Madeleine Walker. Children on stage can often seem to be superfluous, delivering wooden performances. These two children understood their roles perfectly, adding to the realism as well as emotional drama of the play.

In the original play the notion of Nora being kept in a doll's house is reinforced with the presence on stage of a child’s doll's house. In this production the doll’s house has been replaced by a large child’s playing area filled with dozens of black and white pandas, this allows the participants to throw tantrums, literally throwing their toys out of the cot.