REVIEW

The star of Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House,” which Linfield College Theater performed this weekend, is the set. It’s an entire front of a Victorian home complete with a front door, four walls and a hardwood floor.

The house features huge picture windows on all sides and rotates slowly around so the audience, seated around all four sides, can see what happens from all angles.

At first, the rotating set seemed awkward. For the first 10 minutes, most people were twisting their necks to see around window frames. Eventually, though, everyone adjusted.

The set plays two roles.

It makes this domestic story about a marriage intimate and realistic. It forces the audience into the role of voyeurs, watching the inner workings of a private home and a private couple.

It also works on a deeper level.

Forced to consider each scene from every angle, the audience comes to see the story from every angle. It becomes impossible to sympathize with only one character, because one sees the story unfold through each character’s eyes.
The play tells the story of Nora and Torvald Helmer in 1880s Norway.

As a newlywed, Nora borrowed money to send her husband to Italy where he could recover from a bad illness in the warmer climate. She illegally forged her dying father’s signature because a woman couldn’t take out a loan without a male co-signer.
Torvald’s friend, Nils Krogstad, lent Nora the money. When he learns she forged the co-signer’s signature, he blackmails her in order to keep his job at her husband’s bank.

The blackmail threat is issued on Christmas Eve. The mental agony Nora experiences during the next two days leads her to seriously consider suicide.

Treated like a child by Torvald, she cannot be honest with him. She’s so convinced he would take the blame to save her, she’s willing to throw herself into the icy river to save him from having to.

But Torvald doesn’t take the blame when he discovers her crime. He berates Nora, telling her he can never trust her again, telling her she has poisoned their household. Their marriage will forever be limited to a union solely for appearance’s sake.

Throughout the play, he remains condescending. She plays a child-like part in response, singing, dancing and telling white lies to cover for eating candy.

At the very end, though, Nora acts like a woman — at least, like a woman of today.

In 1876, most audiences would have sympathized with Torvald, who would not have been a bad husband by Victorian standards. He’s kind, gives her money and calls her “my skylark,” though he also calls her “little Miss Stubborn Shoes.”

The actors, a group of Linfield students joined by two darling boys from Newby Elementary School, do a fine job with the material. Chris Forrer is both funny and sad as Dr. Rank, a family friend.

As Nils Krogstad, William DeBiccari walks the line between desperate young man and sinister blackmailer. He turns his face from “tortured” to “in love” in the space of a second, and manages to make it seem natural and organic.

As Torvald, Christopher Lambert is as sympathetic as the character’s role can make him. He portrays the man’s love for his wife well, yet also pulls off Torvald’s irritating moments convincingly.

Jessica Learn has a knack for emotions, which serves her well as Nora. The character bounces from happy, to angry, to elated, to scared, to suicidal, to sad, to resolute, with a few detours in between. Learn keeps up with her character, and her performance in the final scene left many audience members in tears.

And the costumes are absolutely gorgeous. They help sell the production.

“A Doll’s House” is probably the most depressing Christmas play ever written. However, it’s also a fascinating, thought-provoking commentary on how much society has changed in the past 150 years.

If you go
What: “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen
When: Continues at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 12 to 14
Where: Linfield College’s Marshall Theatre
How much: $9 general, $7 students and seniors
More information: 503-883-2292