NYC, New York
11 June 2008 – 21 June 2008
Director: Helene Kvale
Scenery: Michael Billings
Costumes: Lucy Brown
Choreography: Greg Webster
Adaptation: Helene Kvale
Loria Parker - TheaterScene.net
It is indeed a noble effort for a budding young theatre company to take on an historically pivotal play as its premiere production. Yet, to its credit, that’s exactly what Bated Breath Theatre Company has done with Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Bated Breath’s founder, and the play’s director, Helene Kvale, has fashioned a version of the classic that deserves admiration and acknowledgment. The play’s translation verbally and stylistically works well, as the story takes place in what appears to be the 1950’s instead of the late 1800’s. In an era that in many ways infantilized women, the ’50’s attitudes and gender roles were just the spark it took to ignite the feminist movement, gaining benefits that so many of us now enjoy. Source
Mark Blakenship - Variety
The latter results in shadow play: As Nora reveals that she illegally borrowed money to pay for the medical expenses of her husband Torvald (Luke Daniels), or as he coos that she's useless without him, other cast member skulk behind the scrims. Backlighting turns them into distorted silhouettes, suggesting the social pressures that constantly oppress the Halmers and keep them locked in their gender roles. Source