THE 1041C Theater Reviews

As I slowly descend the theater stairs, trying to keep my footsteps as quiet as possible, I notice something about stage. There was a person sitting on a stool off to the side of the stage; there were four music stands spread out across the front of the stage; and the actors are sitting in the back of the stage, waiting for their cues. This was different from any previous presentations our class has attended. This should be interesting, I thought. But first thing is first, time to find a vacant seat. I made my way to the seat, my footsteps clicking all the way.

Nora was the first one to stand up and walk forward to the music stands. Then it clicked to me, why the music stands were there. What a brilliant idea I thought, having the music stands act as hands to hold the script book as the actors read. But as the play went on, I realized that this was not as brilliant as it first appeared. Sure the music stands freed up the actors hands so that they can make gestures but there was a trade off. In exchange for being able to use both hands to make gestures, the actors gave up two things. First, the actors could not stray far from the music stand, if at all. Second, the music stands kept the actors at an arm’s length from the audience. Throughout the entire play, I simply could not fall entirely into the story because those stands were a constant reminder that there is a fourth wall between us and them.

Improvised fourth wall aside, I think the actors did a fairly good job in portraying the emotions of their characters. Nora, portrayed by Antoinette LaVecchia, came across as a kindhearted and somewhat naïve woman who was completely devoted to her husband and her family. The love she has for Torvald seemed genuine, as if she would do anything for him. Torvald, portrayed by Christopher Burns, came across as the masculine, sometimes to a fault, breadwinner of the family. Burns and LaVecchia’s actions matched up to accurately portray the dynamics of their relationship. Throughout the play Nora seemed very devoted to Torvald but I could see that this devotion was not entirely mutual. I could tell that Torvald did not place Nora in his primary concern. It was obvious to me that his primary value was his reputation. Burns did a good job portraying that duality that exists within Torvald, between being the strict manager and the loving husband.

I cannot even express how well the actor playing Kragstad fit the part. If ever there was a person born to act his part it was Mark Borkowski. His tone and his appearance matched up together to portray the understandably desperate antagonist. But I felt that he could have taken his part further had he been allowed to actually move about the stage. His tone and appearance did a good job at portraying his emotions but if he could move more it would have added that much more dimension to his character.

Overall, I like the performance A Doll’s House. The actors did a good job portraying the emotional aspect of their characters. I would have liked it more if the actors moved around more but that’s okay. It doesn’t hurt the performance.