THE 1041C Theater Reviews

The theater production of A Doll’s House by Baruch is an astonishing feat that overcomes budget, set design, and time constraints.  In a mere 45 minutes the cast of A Doll’s House effectively delivered a revolutionary message encrypted behind the lines written by Erik Ibsen.  I was a little hesitant to watching this play because I was always attracted to big name actors, dazzling set designs and costumes, expensive lighting and mythical tales.  The production put by Baruch ignore all these aspects and dives in to a much more conservative play that deals with everyday social issues.  The context might seem a little plain because the play revolves around the lives of regular people but the cast and director accomplish the task of churning boring text in to an enjoyable performance.  After each scene I was more concerned with the characters problems and desperately wanted to know what would happen next.  The actors had a large part in fulfilling this aspect.  Each performer did a wonderful job of portraying their characters and emotions, and I could feel the sorrow and anger of some of the characters.  The meaningless conversations taken by Nora and Torvald portrayed the failures of their marriage.  The actor who played Torvald did a terrific job in his treatment toward Nora.  He would put on a certain boyish charm and act like a child illustrating the failure of Nora and Torvald’s relationship.  The actor who played Nora also did a wonderful job of creating anxiety and tension in the audience’s heart.    The actor would pace back and forth creating the illusion of tension and her facial expressions created a sense of hopelessness forming emotional bonds with the audience.  The audience had also developed a sense of fear towards the future of Nora’s character because of the consequences of Nora’s actions.  A Doll’s House is one of the few plays that have a lasting impact on the audience.  Erik Ibsen had intended to question society and their moral issues in this play and the Baruch production does a wonderful job of getting these messages across. Although this performance lacked many of the necessities of modern theater such as, elaborate costume and set design it still did a wonderful job of delivering a powerful performance that relied heavily on acting skills.