The Crescent Theatre stages “Nora: A Doll’s House” from March 15th – Stef Smith’s radical reinvention of the Ibsen classic
When Henrik Ibsen’s theatrical classic “A Doll’s House” was first performed in 1879, it caused outrage for daring to depict a woman who railed against the restrictions placed on her by society.
Almost 150 years later, The Crescent Theatre stages Stef Smith’s bold reinvention of Ibsen’s original text, following the character of Nora over the course of three tumultuous days across three different time periods.
For playwright Stef Smith, the fact that “Nora: A Doll’s House” has found life in numerous cities since it was first performed in Glasgow six years ago is a continued delight.
‘It’s a real privilege for a play to live again and it’s so brilliant that it’s found a home at The Crescent,’ says Smith, speaking on Zoom from her home in Scotland. ‘When you write a play, you focus so much on the first production and you don’t want to overestimate that it might live again after that. It’s such a joy to know that the story can live on. It’s surreal for me, to be honest, sitting at my desk just plodding along with new stuff and meanwhile this play is happening elsewhere.’
The Crescent’s new production of “Nora: A Doll’s House” is helmed by director Steph Urquhart, who on first reading fell in love with how Smith turned a classic of the stage into something uniquely contemporary.
‘The fantastic thing about Stef Smith’s reimagining is how she’s taken the blueprint of the Ibsen characters and transposed them to three time periods,’ explains Urquhart. ‘Each of those time periods mark milestones in the fight for women’s independence throughout the years. So you have 1918, when some women finally got the opportunity to vote. Then in 1968 legalised abortion came into effect, and in 2018 you’re right off the back of the #MeToo movement, where the play is asking how much has really changed in those hundred years?’
For the six actors, the biggest challenge has been taking on a number of different roles. Vicky Youster, Lydia White and Chloe Potter each play one of the three Noras, but they also play a version of her friend Christine in another era, whilst Luke Plimmer, Tom Lowde and Lou Styles all play a different husband across different decades.
‘There are just so many layers to the play.’ says Urquhart. ‘There’s a real richness and poetry to all of it. Having actors play multiple roles is a challenge, but we have these great character actors who can bring so much to that aspect of the play.’
As for Smith, what does she want an audience to take away from watching “Nora: A Doll’s House”?
‘I suppose I want audiences to have an understanding that all of our history is around us all the time, and just because it happened hundreds of years ago, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t cast a long shadow onto contemporary Britain. There’s a hope at the heart of the play that things can change, but change is hard and it takes longer than we want it to and it takes many of us to work towards it.’
To book: 0121 643 5858 or www.crescent-theatre.co.uk