Great
theater often comes alive in the details, and there are gorgeous details aplenty
in the outstanding production of A Doll’s
House now at Mamai Theatre Company. This talented troupe has taken an
adaptation by Thornton Wilder of the Henrik Ibsen script and turned that old
Norwegian play into a fresh and compelling look at a restless and unfulfilled
woman in a confining marriage.
But,
oh, the details! Take the line “I can’t spend the night in a strange man’s
house.” Those words are uttered by Nora, later in the play, when she decides to
leave her husband of eight years, Thorwald, much to his surprise. And it sums
up, in an instant, the profound disconnection between these two remarkable
characters.
In
this production, those two characters are given precisely crafted
interpretations by Anjanette Hall as Nora and Abraham Adams as Thorwald. Hall’s
role has a sweeping trajectory—from childlike “doll” to a self-realized young
woman—and Hall brings each aspect of this woman to life with the exactitude of
a pointillist. And Adams provides an equally fascinating portrayal of a man who
is often rendered as a two-dimensional dufus. Indeed, there are often times
when you feel great affection for Adams’ Thorwald, which makes the play
resonate even more powerfully.
They
are supported in splendid style by four other players. Rachel Lee Kolis is
beaten but unbowed as Christina Linden, Nora’s less fortunate gal pal. She
shares secrets with Nils Krogstad (a determined yet vulnerable John Busser), a
functionary in the bank run by Thorwald. And Tim Keo makes the most of his turn
as Dr. Rank. In his scene with Nora, when she entices him with her silk
stockings, you can feel the tension ripple through his yearning and unmoving
body. Like I said: details.
Director
Christine McBurney has found exactly the right pace for this material, and it
grabs hold of you from the first lines all the way to the end, some 2½ hours
later. The design team has also
done exceptional work, from the multi-level scenic design by Don McBride to the
subtle lighting design by Marcus Dana. Kristine Davies’ period costumes are
spot-on, and equally effective are Richard Ingraham’s sound cues, capturing
party sounds from a floor above, and Monica Plunkett’s specific and appropriate
props.
A Doll’s House created a furor back in the
day, with a wife and mother willing to forsake her duty to husband and children
to assert her own individuality. It’s an early sketch of the feminist mindset,
and it is given a stellar production by Mamai that is hugely satisfying from
the smallest details to the largest themes.
A
Doll’s House
Through
August 27 at Mamai Theater, The Helen Rosenfeld Bialosky Lab Theatre, 1407
Euclid Avenue, 216-241-6000, mamaitheatreco.org.
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