Jennifer Kelly said the ECHO Players’ latest production A Doll’s House gives the audience a chance to examine their lives.
“How many of us live this life properly examined. So many live a life that’s unexamined and I think what (Henrik Ibsen) is asking us to do is examine our lives honestly and thoroughly. Just something that may be a great thing to ask a human being or maybe not,” Kelly said.
A Doll’s House is a three-act play in prose by playwright Ibsen. The play premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark on Dec. 21, 1879.
Ibsen’s play follows Nora Helmer (played by Kelly) who seems to have the perfect marriage, the perfect children and the perfect life, according to director Sue Murguly.
“It starts on Christmas Eve and (Nora) is looking forward to it because her husband just got a huge job with lots of money. She suddenly realizes things in her life will be this free and easy life,” Murguly said, but added that something happens and changes all of that.
“The facade falls off the marriage and it’s exposed. Then you see the chinks of (the marriage).”
Kelly said there’s a lot for the audience to take away at the end of A Doll’s House.
“I also think (the play) addresses flaws that we have as human beings and how the playwright exposes our flaws — our characters are flawed. The audience is sort of left to decipher for themselves and how they can relate to these characters.”
When A Doll’s House was first released, it was a controversial play, said Steve Hill who plays Torvald Helmer.
“When it was first done, there were actresses who refused to play the part (of Nora) because they said that no woman would do what Nora does at the end of play.”
But Hill added, “The part of Nora is widely-considered to be one of the absolute best roles ever written for a woman.”
A Doll’s House, which was recently revived in London and New York City, still resonates with audiences today, said Kelly.
“Even though it was written at the turn of the (last) century. The themes resound today just as they did back then,” Kelly said.
“This is a humanist play. This play is really important,” Kelly said. “This play is about the tragic breakdown of a marriage and the loss of that which is so relevant in every generation.”
Hill said the play exposes human frailty on both sides.
“It’s not just the guy’s fault or her fault. It’s the human frailty on both sides,” he said. “It was absolutely shocking in its day, but it still raises issues that are very with us today.”
Murguly said around the time the play was written, people who held parties refused to allow discussion of A Doll’s House within their drawing rooms.
“There was so much discord among the guests,” Murguly said.
But she said she thinks that’s what Ibsen intended.
“It raises questions at the end of the play rather than coming in and saying, ‘Oh, yeah I was right.’”
Murguly said over the years, there has been a lot written about A Doll’s House.
“A lot of people think that this is a women’s issue or women’s liberation, sort of suffragette type of subject. But I think, they come with some expectations and . . . we want to be able to give them more to think about at the end of the play,” she said.
A Doll’s House premieres Thursday, April 21 and runs until may 8. Evening performances start at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $17 for seniors (65 and over), $11 for students and $16 for groups of 10 or more.
The box office is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sundays from 12:30 to 2 p.m. and performance nights from 6 to 7:30 p.m. or call 250-752-3522.
