Review by Lauren Collins
Tuesday night, the ECHO Players previewed their play A Doll’s House to an almost full house.
A Doll’s House centres around housewife Nora Helmer (Jennifer Kelly) and her almost borderline obsession with money.
The play, which is set in the Helmer’s living room, gradually shows the progression of Nora and her husband Torvald’s (Steve Hill) marriage.
Starting the day before Christmas, Nora is excited about all the gifts she’s bought for her family for the next day. Soon enough Torvald joins Nora in the living room and the conversation immediately turns to money.
Through their banter about money, the two were still very affectionate.
Kelly and Hill, whose chemistry was undeniable, do a great job of making the audience feel like the Helmer’s marriage is nothing but perfect.
Shortly after, the Helmer’s living room becomes a revolving door of guests.
First is Mrs. Linde (Kerry Campbell), an old school friend of Nora’s, then Dr. Rank (Charlie Welton), a friend of the Helmer’s, and finally Nils Krogstad, an acquaintance of the Helmer’s.
As Nora and Mrs. Linde catch up, Nora keeps bringing up the topic of money until finally revealing a major secret she has been keeping from Torvald for almost their entire eight-year marriage.
This is when the drama starts to unfold, and so do the chinks in Nora and Torvald’s marriage.
Kelly, in particular, shines in her role as Nora as she tries to keep her secret from Torvald by going to extreme lengths and near-hysterics. Kelly is basically on stage throughout the whole play, which is about two hours (not including intermission) except for two parts in Act 2, Scene 2.
Through it all, Kelly never stumbled on her lines.
In the first act, Hill’s character has a smaller role, playing a loving husband. However, as the second act starts, Torvald changes and Hill does an amazing job of making the audience begin to dislike his character and his personality.
By the final scene, Nora’s secret is really beginning to wear on her marriage, and it shows. It isn’t quite certain until the very end, what Nora plans to do, or if she plans to do anything at all.
The end of the final scene is definitely the strongest throughout the entire play.
Kelly and Hill deliver their lines so well that the audience might almost forget it’s just a play.
It’s understandable why the play was controversial in its time, which was back in the late 1800s, but Nora’s character could still be seen as controversial to this day.
A Doll’s House was written by Henrik Ibsen and premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark on Dec. 21, 1879.
In 2006, on the centennial anniversary of Ibsen’s death, A Doll’s House was considered to be the world’s most performed play for that year.
For a final dress rehearsal, there were little to no hiccups throughout the performance. A few lines could have been spoken louder, but the leading actors did well with projection.
The sound and lighting crew, which are just as important, hit the mark as well throughout the entire performance.
A Doll’s House is the ECHO Players final play of the season and is directed by Sue Murguly.
Evening performances start at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. For tickets, dates and other information, call 250-752-3522 or visit www.echoplayers.ca.
