Nora: A Doll's House (City Lights)
Jan 18-Feb 18, 2024 (San Jose)
We started our 2024 theater outings off with a bang by seeing City Light’s wonderful production of Nora: A Doll’s House on Jan 19. The play is a twist on Ibsen’s classic A Doll’s House, showing the story unfold in the Helmer house simultaneously in 1918, 1968, and 2018. We’re never disappointed with an evening at City Lights and this was no exception. My only regret was to not have brushed up on my Ibsen beforehand so I could even better appreciate the adaptation and updates.
Written by Stef Smith, after Henrik Ibsen
Director: Angie Higgins
Scenic Designer: Ron Gasparinetti
Lighting Designer: Spense Matubang
Costume Designer: Kailyn Erb
Featuring:
Gariella Goldstein (Nora 2018/Christine 1918)
Melissa Mei Jones (Nora 1968/Christine 2018)
Roneet Aliza Rahamim (Nora 1918/Christine 1968)
Jeffrey Bracco (Thomas)
Kyle Dayrit (Nathan)
Christian Pizzirani (Daniel)
As the dramaturgy guide explains, “The more things change, the more they stay the same in this bold new retelling of the classic A Doll’s House… In each time period, Nora is the flawless wife and mother. But she has a secret that threatens to upend this precariously perfect existence. Ibsen challenged gender norms and outraged audiences when A Doll’s House was first performed in 1879. Today, we look back at the roles that women have been allowed to play during the fight for female suffrage, the swinging sixties, and the modern day, and wonder how far we’ve really come.”
The play premiered in 2019 at The Citizens Theatre in Glasgow and an acclaimed 2020 production opened at the Young Vic in London.
Highlights:
The acting was just fantastic in this production and the choreography (it was definitely more than just blocking to make the three timelines seamlessly dance together as the actress switched off between characters and interacted interchangeably with the male characters).
A few familiar faces: We had seen Melissa Mei Jones in Silicon Valley Shakespear’s King Lear last summer and she was an understudy in TheatreWork’s In Every Generation. Kyle Dayrit was Shakespeare and Christain Pizzirani was Fennyman in SVS’s Shakespeare in Love. Roneet Aliza Rahamim played Mrs. Bradman in Blithe Spirit. And we first met director Angie Higgins when she directed Limelight’s production of Ripcord but she has been involved in other Limelight/SVCT productions including Mom’s Gift (2018), Proof (2014). And I didn’t notice at the time, but it was pointed out later that our director for the Limelight by SVCT’s upcoming production of On Golden Pond, Bryan Freeman, is the understudy for Thomas!
The set was simple but dramatic and effective:
Definitely a production I would highly recommend (and would consider seeing again — especially after rereading A Doll’s House — to catch more of the nuances I missed the first time and to just get to appreciate the acting even more.
