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.