A Doll's House
Two groups of Darwin High School Year 10, 11 and 12 English students attended the Brown’s Mart current production of “A Doll’s House”, the realist domestic tragedy written by the Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen.
Although the play was first performed in 1879, and shocked audiences at the time, the restrictive gender roles it presents, and the conflict between the right to individual freedom and the demands of society continue to resonate to this day.
The audience was treated to magical performances by Ciella Williams and Yoris Wilson as Nora and Torvald Helmer, he a successful lawyer and banker and she his ‘doll’ wife. The action is set in a convincingly charming nineteenth century sitting room which is soon revealed as a cage for the female protagonist. We see what on the surface appears to be a happy marriage disintegrate as the truth of the relationship between Nora and Helmer is inexorably revealed.
The performance of a play they have studied drew a selection of reflective comments from the Year 12 students
In my opinion the play was fantastic as was the acting, especially from the actor who played Nora. The last act was my favourite as it was the most engaging and was a lot different to what I expected. Zain
The set of the play was smaller than imagined but that may just have been because of the size of the theatre. Nevertheless, the whole play set in one room was very well executed. Elizabeth
The props used supported [the production] very well. Ajay
The play was beautifully executed through movement, vocal tone, music and lighting. These techniques really drew the audience in and affected their feelings on a personal level. Jessica
The play serves as testament to how powerful the drive of self-fulfilment is. Maitane
The lighting was great. It defined the mood of the characters really well, especially when Nora was alone and the lights burned blue demonstrating her sadness. Cloudia
“A Doll’s House” more than fulfilled my expectations…The main actors were very expressive and fitted their roles well, and the Helmers’ house was close to what I had imagined. Throughout the play I felt extremely uncomfortable and ill which was, [I believe} intentional. Connor
The performance of A Doll's House was excellent. Each of the actors was able to bring to life the characters directly from the page whilst creating a performance which was entirely their own. Olive
I thought the performance was fabulous, in particular the actors playing the primary roles of Nora Torvald did a great job. The quality of the play was excellent, and I think the director did a great job conveying Ibsen’s ideas. Finn
“A Doll’s House” is the best text I have ever studied and going to see the play was brilliant and eye-opening, worth doing throughout school. I loved it. Regan
