8/29 Questions in EN 190

[Recently Gillian Anderson played Nora in a British production set in 1909.  There Torvald and Krogstad were politicians!]


Good evening & welcome to our new students :)

I hope that you are enjoying watching the 1973 version of A Doll House.  If you have a chance, feel free to read the play (1242-1297) or the online version:  

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/i/ibsen/henrik/dolls/index.html

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2542/2542-h/2542-h.htm

Feel free to take a look at the new (or not-so-new) entries on the blog as well:

http://en202.blogspot.com/2013/08/from-archives-pictures-and-more-of-doll.html

http://en202.blogspot.com/2013/08/theater-and-filmvideo.html

Here are a few more questions for you based on our discussion, the parts of A Doll House that we have seen, and the blog entries.  Skim over the questions to see which ones intrigue you the most.

-- What did today's scenes add to your understanding of A Doll House?  performance?  theater?

-- How did today's scenes complicate your understanding of A Doll House?  Nora?  the characters' relationships?  the actors' performances?

-- Discuss A Doll House as a film.  How do the extra scenes (the opening credits, the scenes outside of the house, especially Krogstad's scene with his sons) add to your understanding of the play?

-- We've been focusing on characters' psychology and actors' performances.  How do other elements (set design, camera angles, composition of shots, sound, costumes) add to your understanding of the play?

-- If you've had a chance to read the play in our anthology or online, how do the stage directions add to your understanding of the play?  How do they limit it?

-- What do you make of the coincidence that Mrs. Linde and Krogstad used to know each other?  Why?

-- Try out this website:  http://www.pbs.org/manorhouse/1905/

What would your life have been like in 1905?  How does this knowledge help you understand A Doll House a little better?  Why?  Below are some pictures from 1905.

-- Consider the developmental theories of Kohlberg and Gilligan:

http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.htm

http://collegestudentdeveltheory.blogspot.com/2010/09/gilligans-theory-of-womens-moral.html

How would you apply them to Nora, Torvald, and Krogstad's comments and actions?

-- Choose a link, observation, or photo from the blog entries.  How does it deepen your understanding of A Doll House?

-- Should more plays be available on film or video?  Why?  Why not?

-- How would A Doll House work as an immersive play (see information about Punchdrunk Theater Company)?

(Here is a blog entry on Punchdrunk's Sleep No More, an adaptation of Macbeth:  http://www.unwinnable.com/2011/05/06/sleep-no-more-get-a-sloppy-kiss/ )

http://entertainmentdesigner.com/news/experiences/mingle-with-murderers-in-punchdrunks-immersive-production-of-macbeth/

Have a great weekend, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to say!

Dr. Szlyk

Theater and Film/Video

While I'm waiting for the washer to finish, I thought I'd post some links on theater, performance, and film/video.  Some may consider film/video to be, at best, a necessary evil for classrooms as theater is intended to be performed LIVE.  Others, though, may see film/video as an opportunity to see the best possible actors, directors, stage design, and costumes.  And, as you will see in this link about a 2003 modern-dress performance of Henry V, videos are sometimes part of the performance:

http://www.stagework.org.uk/webdav/harmonise@Page%252F@id=6007&Section%252F@id=372.html

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/may/14/theatre.artsfeatures2

I have also seen a production of Current Nobody that used video as well:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/05/AR2007110502017.html

http://www.theatermania.com/washington-dc-theater/reviews/11-2007/current-nobody_11995.html

Ah, but let's go back to the question of how one may watch theater!  Here are some articles from The Guardian's Theatre blog:

Lois Peary reports on the UK's National Video Archive of Perfomance.

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2012/apr/02/taped-theatre-live-recorded-jerusalem?guni=Article:in%20body%20link

Here is a link to the archive itself:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/nvap/

Matt Trueman discusses a video of a specific play based on a historical incident:

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2012/aug/01/kursk-filmed-theatre-performance

Lyn Gardner discusses digital technology in general:
http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2013/aug/19/digital-technology-help-theatre

I wonder if the UK's Punchdrunk Theatre Company was inspired by the need to be worth the trip to the theater.  (This company presents "immersive" theater where you explore the play as you would explore a haunted house come Halloween.)
http://punchdrunk.com/current-shows

http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/theater/in-london-punchdrunks-drowned-man-has-audiences-roaming.html?_r=0

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2013/jul/19/punchrunk-hype-drowned-man-lyn-gardner

This is not about technology, but I thought that you might find this entry on whether the playwright should have the final say on a play to be interesting:

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2013/jul/25/playwright-final-say-theatre-production

I wonder what Ibsen would have said about Mabou Mines' production of A Doll House as he was very much interested in realism.

From the Archives: Pictures and More of A Doll House

Friday, January 11, 2008

A Doll's House (More Pictures!!!)

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The picture above is from a California modern-dress production of A Doll's House.  I looked a little bit for a picture from a local production, but I wasn't able to find one quickly.  Below is another period production from the University of California at Riverside.  The scene depicted is Nora's rehearsal of the tarantella.

On the other hand, I did find this essay that explains the importance of Ibsen and his approach to modern drama.

 http://web.archive.org/web/20110713001331/http://www.ibsenvoyages.com/e-texts/four_plays_intro.html

The author of this essay is not only a literary scholar but also the former Resident Dramaturg for the American Ibsen Theater in Pittsburgh.

Here is a link to a biography of Ibsen.  As you'll see, he lived a long life, and this long life was lived during an eventful period of history--the 19th century.

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ibsen.htm

Ibsen caused quite a sensation in England, as this essay from 1893 details, and poet/critic/language reformer George Bernard Shaw coined the term "Ibsenism."

http://ibsen.net/index.gan?id=35363&subid=0

Ibsen caused this stir because of his approach to psychological and social realism.

http://ibsen.net/index.gan?id=108034&subid=0
This article, also from the Norwegian site Ibsen.net, covers the playwright's approach to the performance of his plays, especially their casting:

http://ibsen.net/index.gan?id=1927&subid=0

I am trying to find some of the 19th c. and early 20th c. performances of A Doll's House online.  I wanted to find a picture of Elizabeth Robins (one of Ibsen's early advocates) as Nora, but all I could find was one of her portraying Hedda Gabler, another of Ibsen's heroines.

Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD has a very informative and complete site on A Doll's House.  The production is from the 2003-04 season.  Unfortunately, the web site is a little wonky.

 http://web.archive.org/web/20090711091731/http://www.northern.edu/wild/0304Season/DollsHouse/Doll_Nts.htm

Below are links to a variety of productions of A Doll's House.  The first link actually brings you to a site where you may download the scanned version of a review from 1918!  Alla Nazimova (pictured below) played Nora.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B0DEFD81F3FE433A25753C3A9629C946996D6CFThe picture below is from Nazimova's 1922 silent film version of Ibsen's play.



This review is even older.  It describes a benefit performance held in 1894:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C02EFDC1F39E033A25755C1A9649C94659ED7CF

Here is a review of the 2007 production pictured at the top of this entry:

http://www.metroactive.com/metro/01.24.07/dolls-house-0704.html

Another recent production in New Hampshire took a very eccentric approach, casting very tall women and very short men.  The play was staged at Dartmouth by the Mabou Mines, an outside, experimental theater group from New York.

 http://web.archive.org/web/20070423160120/http://hop.dartmouth.edu/2005-06/46-dollhouse.html


Here is a link to a video of the Mabou Mines' production:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHn2FxLJOoI

This 2008 production from Chesapeake Shakespeare takes a more traditional approach.  http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=25048

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR2008021303167.html

A theater in Nepal has staged A Doll House in Norway (Ibsen's home country):





http://www.aarohantheatre.org/onstage.php

And, in class, we saw the video from a South Korean theater company:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbgsD7K9qCc

http://www.probationarytheatre.com/Press/Groove-2012-11.html

The version from LA (with Calista Flockhart as Nora) is actually a radio play!
http://www.theatermania.com/los-angeles-theater/news/09-2011/calista-flockhart-plays-house_40988.html

http://www.latw.org/Audio/titles/Doll-house.html


Here is a review of a recent production in NYC:

http://www.villagevoice.com/theater/0446,feingold,58483,11.html

When will one of our DC theaters stage A Doll House?

Here are reviews of films from the 1970s.  The first starred Claire Bloom and Anthony Hopkins, and the second starred Jane Fonda.  We are watching the version starring Ms. Bloom and Hopkins.
The link below is to a review of the version starring Ms. Fonda.

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/133372/A-Doll-s-House/overview

I'll conclude with Prof. Ian Johnston's lecture on A Doll's House:

http://web.archive.org/web/20090322090712/http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/introser/ibsen.htm

Ah, here is a picture of Jane Fonda's Nora.

First Set of Questions for EN 190/190HM

[The picture above is from a 2012 production of A Doll House.]


Good afternoon :)

It's wonderful to meet everyone, and I am looking forward to our exploration of literature this semester.  I hope that you will enjoy it as well.

Although I do hope that you will be able to buy (or rent) your book, we will not have a reading specifically for Thursday.  You may choose to start A Doll House, if you like.  If you don't have your book yet, here are links to online versions of this play:

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/i/ibsen/henrik/dolls/index.html

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2542/2542-h/2542-h.htm

In addition, I've changed the settings at my blog for EN 190/190HM, so here is a link for you:  

http://en202.blogspot.com/

Next these are the links to the videos we saw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uqomb814Qk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbgsD7K9qCc

I am trying to find a modern dress version--and here is one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb3CIsynKa4

Finally, here are a few questions for your journal:

-- What comes to your mind when you think of literature?

-- Have you ever been to a play or musical?  If so, what was it like?

-- Compare/contrast a play and a movie.  

-- What jumped out at you as you watched the movie version of A Doll House?  Or the videos of the theater versions?

-- If you had a chance to read A Doll House, how did the DVD help you understand it better?  How did reading the play help you to understand it better?

-- Should A Doll House be done in modern dress or in more historically accurate dress?  Why?

-- Discuss Nora and Torvald's marriage as Claire Bloom and the young Anthony Hopkins enact it.

I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing what you have to say!

Dr. Szlyk