146-year-old feminist tale a treat for theatre-goers
A production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House in historic performance space is a collaboration between Rook’s Theatre and Same Boat Theatre.
Premiering in 1879, Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House is a three-act Norwegian play about anxious and unsatisfied housewife Nora and her relationship to her paternalistic husband Torvald.
Without a career or a proper education, Nora relies solely on her husband’s salary, receiving an allowance to pay for the daily needs of their children and home. After we, the audience, become privy to the housewife’s debt to the sketchy antagonist Krogstad, we watch Nora’s mental health spiral as she attempts to protect her husband’s reputation amid threats of social and financial ruin.
Adapted by Aaron Joel Craig, this Rook's Theatre and Same Boat Theatre collaboration production made clever use of their limited set, utilizing The Back Hall’s staircase and doors as in-world structures. A historically minimalistic stage to begin with, the Hamilton adaptation included a small sitting room set, Christmas decorations, and a bird cage ceiling lamp centrepiece, representative of the story’s iconic imagery.
Our main couple, played by Stephanie Hope Lawler and Michael Rode, are experienced and comfortable performers, taking charge of their limited physical space. The entire Rook’s Theatre and Same Boat Theatre casts are undoubtedly skilled actors, yet the nearly 150-year-old story does translate, at times, in a stilted style. Perhaps further modernization could have eased the strained dialogue and mannerisms, as several characters come across largely costumey and less reflective of the very real and relatable misogynistic dynamics that still exist today. These critiques are at no fault of the included talent, however, who could easily deliver an equally powerful performance under alternative direction.
A Doll’s House was quite the tie-clutching feminist tale in its day, and rightfully deserves the legacy it has cultivated. Although 2025 adapters may want to get creative when reworking the story, Hamilton theatre-goers and Ibsen fans are in for a treat at The Back Hall, a historic performance space in the Lansdale neighbourhood that is just about as old as the play itself.
Indie theatre Rook's Theatre was established in 2017 as a “story-driven theatre in a city of stories” that is “committed to creating exciting, pop-up theatrical experiences that engage and challenge audiences.”
Same Boat, founded by Hamilton theatre artists Aaron Joel Craig, Stephen Near, and Lauren Miller, is “dedicated to telling authentic and provocative stories onstage that challenge the heart and confront the mind. With a focus on new and established plays, we strive for compelling theatre that gives voice to urgent ideas and speaks to our community.”
Rook’s Theatre and Same Boat Theatre collaborated last year on a sold-out run of Hamlet.
NEED TO KNOW
A Doll’s House
Continues Nov. 20, 21, 22, at 7:30 p.m.
The Back Hall
130 Victoria Ave. N.
Tickets: Pay-what-you-will ($20 - $50, plus service fee)
Tickets here
