Can Ibsens play survive the end of marriage?
To its credit, the Dale Theater Kompani does not try to show A Doll’s House in a contemporary setting, and interestingly we are left with a nineteenth century take on a very modern issue. There are a lot of good things to say about this production. It would be worth seeing if only to hear Sarah Head’s Songbird sing. And although the Rosemary Branch Theatre may be an intimate setting, the presence and projection of the cast will make you feel as though you are in the front row at the National. But what makes this production is that the audience is forced to see the play as Ibsen’s contemporaries, and because of this we are shown a new take on a contemporary theme. When first staged, A Doll’s House shocked audiences, and this is something no production would be able to recreate. But take out the shock factor and we are left with an individual trying to make sense of their place in the world and how they relate to others, a common theme in contemporary culture (see reviews of Lost in Tran
