Henrick Ibsen's 'A Doll's House' to be performed at Cornerstone in Didcot

After a hit with last year’s production of Miss Julie by August Strindberg, UK Touring Theatre are back at the Cornerstone Arts Centre in Didcot with another Nordic masterpiece — A Doll’s House by Henrick Ibsen.

Founded in 2012 by Adam Redmayne and Felicity Rhys, this exciting company specialises in fresh adaptations of classic European plays which are accessible yet challenging.

The last two choices would suggest a particular liking for Nordic writers.

“It could look a bit like that,” admits Felicity. “But we went for Strindberg and Ibsen because they created such great roles for women and dealt with issues that are still so relevant today.” Both Miss Julie and A Doll’s House were ahead of their time and certainly shocked many at their first appearance. Outrage in some quarters was so strong that invitations to social gatherings would often include the note: “You are requested not to mention Ibsen’s Doll’s House!”

Yet the play was a sell-out success from the first performance in 1879 and has remained popular ever since.

Set in 19th-century Norway, the action centres on the relationship between Torvald and Nora Helmer, a couple whose ‘perfect’ marriage is actually far from ideal. At first glance they seem to have it all: a loving marriage, three beautiful children, and a secure financial future. But Nora has a secret and its exposure spectacularly unravels their lives. As director Michael Woodward puts it, “A Doll’s House is a very powerful piece. Every woman can relate to Nora and the social roles that she plays, as daughter, wife and mother. Every woman should see this play once in their lifetime.”

It’s both a popular and a seminal dramatic work and fits in well with the company’s ethos. Felicity explains: “Our mission is to bring the best of British theatre to venues and reach out to new audiences, the sort of people who watch period dramas on TV, for instance. We want to create something theatrical that they will enjoy and relate to. “To do this we focus on the acting and the original text in combination.” Felicity’s theatrical ambitions began in early life. She says: “I wanted to be a performer from a very young age. I got involved in youth yheatre and then it seemed a natural step to go to drama school. I was lucky enough to get a place at E15 [the acclaimed school in London that followed the methods of Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop] and I progressed from there to work in theatre of all varieties and on television.”

Her career path has taken Felicity across the world, touring through most of Europe, Russia and also to Asia. But her work in the English theatres in Copenhagen has been particularly relevant for the latest project — as is evident from the translation the company is using. “Because of my extensive work there, I am a native Danish speaker — so I was able to make an initial literal translation of Ibsen’s script into English.”

If this seems a little puzzling, Felicity goes on to explain that the Norwegian language didn’t actually exist in Ibsen’s time. He wrote in a now defunct language called Riskmål — a Norwegian dialect composed of written Danish and spoken Dano-Norwegian.

“I then joined forces with Nordic language adviser Carrie Flock to make sense of idiomatic phrases which don’t translate directly.

“This was essential to get the nuanced meanings of the playwright.” Since sensitive translation is one of the most important elements in the successful staging of such a play, it is impressive with the level of detail that the company goes to.

Felicity explains: “Once we have our working English script, Adam Redmayne [fellow performer and artistic director of the company] and I continue with development in rehearsals.

“We explore the idiolect of the different characters’ personalities — who is pompous, who uses flowery language, who is abrupt. Workshopping the script, we can find ways to retain the essence of the meaning while making the dialogue more immediate — and this helps the audiences to relate to what is going on.”

With the enormous amount of work and thought that goes into their productions, it is hardly surprising that UK Touring Theatre has gained such a solid reputation over such a short space of time.

A Doll’s House
Saturday, 7.30pm
Cornerstone, Didcot
Call 01235 515144 or visit cornerstone-arts.org