PREVIEW: A Dolls House

Equipped with a brand-new adaptation, Belmont's “A Doll's House” premiered to eager audiences last Friday.

Belmont’s College of Theatre and Dance took the Black Box Theatre stage with a new adaptation of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s “Et dukkehjem,” which translates to “A Doll's House.”

Premiering in 1879, “A Doll's House” has become one of the past century's most globally celebrated pieces of literature, gaining widespread popularity for its progressive stance on feminism.

"I knew the play touched me on a very personal level, but as I read through the numerous versions, I couldn't seem to land on one that really hit me in the way I wanted it to or the way I knew it could. That is when I decided that perhaps it is time for a new version," said the director, Sean Martin.

Although the core of “A Doll's House” is a tale of the struggle for independence, because of the original publication date, many of the finer details became outdated.

"Utilizing my own life experience, I decided setting it in the early ‘90s would allow the central ideas of the play to remain the same while giving it the flexibility and breadth to bring the story to a modern audience," said Martin.

While the story follows the actions and decisions of Nora, played by Lauren Tayson, it is not quick to dismiss the experiences of other characters within the world.

From the inescapable struggle that comes with chronic illness to the shame that follows a guilty man, “A Doll's House” uses Nora's experience as a vessel to narrate the story of her community.

"It's about the relationships between all the characters and their evolution," said senior Evan Fenne, understudy for Torvald Helmer, the husband and antagonist of the show.

"Being an understudy for Torvald is tough because he isn't the most pleasant of characters, but I think the way I relate is through Nora; her realizing that she can think for herself is a very college student revelation to have, and I think a lot of Belmont students will relate to that," said Fenne.

From Nov. 4 to Nov. 12, Belmont's adaptation of “A Doll's House” will be shown in the Black Box Theatre, blasting its anthem of feminine power and stressing the importance of freedom in a society that denies it.

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This article was written by Zach Watkins