K. Waters reviews... on Pudsey.com
   
    West Yorkshire Playhouse presents... A DOLL'S HOUSE.
    After an absence of more than ten years, Henrik Ibsen makes a welcome return to The West Yorkshire Playhouse. A Doll's House was Ibsen's first truly international success and has been performed in Britain and the US more often than any of his other plays.

Written in 1879, and based on a true story, this powerful drama is a vivid account of one woman's personal struggle to discover her own value within the confines of a suffocating marriage.

Christmas in the Helmer household and the family is ready to celebrate. The decorated tree is set, the presents wrapped and Torvald, Nora and the children appear blissfully happy. Yet lurking over the festivities, a menacing figure is about to cast a dark shadow over the family's seemingly idyllic existence.

Nora falls victim to a blackmailer who is inextricably linked with her past. Compelled to confront the reality of her perilous situation, Nora is reliant upon her powers of wit, charm and seduction to ward off the encroaching danger. To achieve that end, Nora makes the remarkable journey from a cosseted, domestic possession to a free-thinking, independent woman.

Ibsen was feted a champion of women's rights- although he himself denied it.Insisting that he did not write to further social purpose, he claimed to be more poet than society philosopher. Certainly there is throughout the play a directness of economy in both language and characters which climaxes in a courageously 'untheatrical' conclusion.
 
   

 
Tanya Moodie (Nora) and Sarah Tansey (Mrs Linde)
   

photos Richard Moran
 
    In an inspired piece of casting, Tanya Moodie gives a commanding performance as Nora Helmer. John Lightbody brings to Torvald Helmer a rigid pomposity that makes a perfect foil to his wife's apparently frivolous and irresponsible nature. Michael Matus's character, no longer bound by the social etiquette of the period, delivers a convincing antagonist in the desperate Krogstad.A fine performance by Paul Goodwin sees Ibsen's Dr. Rank maintain just the right reserve until approaching his final scene.
 
   



Tanya Moodie (Nora) and John Lightbody (Torvald)
 
   

 
   

K. Waters
 

 

A DOLL'S HOUSE will continue matinee and evening performances at the West Yorkshire Playhouse The West Yorkshire Playhouse
      ... until 19th March 2005
Box Office 0113 213 7700
 

"Copyright K Waters. All distribution rights in any media formats are assigned by the author to Clan Vision Internet Publishing.”