Preview: Nora – A Doll’s House

Ibsen’s original was a scandal and a sensation in 1879, not just in the theatre but across western society. He wrote one of the first great naturalistic plays, a portrait of the collapse of a marriage where husband and wife are trapped by the society they live in as much as by their failure to communicate. The feminist message, that women deserve their independence and equality just as much as men, didn’t go down well in the extremely patriarchal society of the time.

I’ve always admired the play but, particularly as it is often staged in the Victorian era, it can appear as a period piece to a contemporary audience, safe in the impression that “we have moved on from the old fashioned attitudes and relationships of that time”. Instead it should be seen as a constant reminder to oppose those ever present forces that would keep women barefoot and pregnant, chained to the stove.

Stef Smith’s skillful version definitely does that – it sticks to the original storyline and psychology, but by telling it in three more recent eras (1918, 1968 and 2018), it asks us directly how much has actually changed in life and in marriage, particularly for women. Spoiler alert: not nearly as much as we would hope.

The agency that women have in their lives, and society’s assumptions about what are “natural” and “normal” roles for men and women in life and a relationship, are some of the universal questions running through the play: Why are women assumed to be the homemakers and caregivers? Who does the bulk of the emotional labour? Who controls the money? Who gives consent? And why, despite some advances that have been made in the past century, is so much of everyday life for women so much more difficult and unfair?

In each era there is a couple who happen to each be called Thomas and Nora. They go through the sadly universal story, but with variations in each era. The characters from the three eras weave in and out amongst each other; three actors each play Nora in “their” era, and also take the part of her friend Christine in another.

As well as conventionally realistic scenes, in some of the most powerful scenes we also see and hear the mass of thoughts and worries swirling through Nora’s mind as she comes to realise the desperate impossibility of her position. The three male actors have a slightly easier task, playing a version of their character in each era. That sounds complex when it’s written down, and it’s not straightforward, but don’t be put off – it works on the stage, thanks to the strength of the writing and the skill of the actors to transform their style of speech, posture and accents.

The unusual structure of the play is both its great strength and the biggest challenge for the cast and as director. The cast and my assistant director Kelly Q have worked miracles, getting inside the structure to show the moves between eras in a series of smooth and subtle transformations.

It’s just before Christmas in the Helmer household. The past few years have been very difficult financially as Thomas (Adam Barlow) has been unwell, but things are really looking up as he starts a new job as manager of a bank in the new year. At last he and his wife Nora (Róisín Deady in 1918, Francesca Woods in 1968 and Marissa Ferrara in 2018) can relax a little and enjoy a comfortable Christmas with their children, but Thomas is concerned by what he sees as Nora’s spendthrift ways.

Nora’s schoolfriend Christine (also played by the three Nora actors in different eras), who moved away many years ago, returns to the town and picks up their friendship, and Thomas offers her a job at the bank. Nora tells Christine her criminal secret, which Thomas is completely unaware of, but which held their family together while he was seriously ill. Nathan (Olly Clifford) works at the bank and his job is threatened by Christine’s appointment. He discovers Nora’s secret and blackmails her to persuade Thomas to keep him on. Meanwhile their friend Daniel (Joe Dominic) has a secret passion for Nora.