By Celia Harvey
After years of Covid-related delays, opening night for the long-awaited UHT production of Nora: A Doll’s House draws near. This radical new version written by Stef Smith and directed by Xanthe Beesley and Liv Satchell will run over April 26-30 and will be held at the Union Theatre. It’s a bittersweet occasion as the final UHT production to be held in this famous theatre before it is relocated, but Nora will be both a farewell and a celebration of the many happy memories made in this space.
I spoke with James Madsen-Smith and Leah Bourne, two of the performers in Nora.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
First question is: why should people come and see this play?
James: Because it’s a really big theatre that we’re trying to fill. [laughter] No, because it’s an excellent work. It’s interesting—it combines a couple of different modes of theatre. You’ve got the shadow of Ibsen’s realism combined with these really strong contemporary theatre strands that—under the direction of Xanthe and Liv—we’ve made some quite interesting choices with. What do you think, Leah?
Leah: I think that’s a great explanation. Beyond the play, it’s also a really special time because it’s the last UHT play that will happen at Union Theatre and in that building before it gets [relocated], so it’s the end of an era. In terms of the play, as James said, it has a lot to say, it’s amazing that the adaptation is firstly by a woman. I think that’s really important because it’s looking at how things have changed over the years for women and how they haven’t. It’s going to be an interesting journey.
Can you tell me a bit about your roles?
James: I play Thomas, who is the husband of Nora, across the three different timelines in which the play is set. Thomas is a man very much shaped by his context in those times and a man who has absorbed and represents a lot of the quite hierarchical and often violent ways in which society treats and perceives women and intimate relationships. He’s quite, I think, a damaged man in his way. The way those dynamics play out in his relationship with Nora is something that will be quite unfortunately familiar, because it’s a story of relationships between men and women that is perpetuated over time and is obviously still a part of the way that we interact today.
Leah: The interesting thing about this play is that it takes Nora away from the original A Doll’s House and it places her across three different time periods that were key to women. The first is 1918: the time of women’s suffrage in the UK. Then 1968, when the pill and abortion and everything like that was starting to come into play and things started shifting. And then modern-day Nora in 2018, which was when the #MeToo movement was. I’m playing the 2018 Nora, the modern Nora. You’d think it would be quite linear, you’d think you’d see this amazing change going upwards but it’s really complex, and you actually find that certain things are almost worse in 2018 in small ways.
This has been a pretty long running project—how long have you been involved? What has the process been like?
James: I initially wanted to be involved in semester two last year. It looked for a long time like it was going to be possible to do something in person, but then it wasn’t, [due to covid]. We had a week-long intensive the week before we started this semester, so that’s eight weeks ago now. It’s been more or less nearly two full days a week so it’s been a pretty intense rehearsal period.
This production is very different from the original, obviously. What do you think has been kept from the original?
Leah: At the heart of it, I think it’s really great that at the time when A Doll’s House was made, it was very scandalous to look into the dark side of what women go through. It most likely would not have come from a female playwright, but I think it’s nice to see that the same exploration and the same theme has been kept and it’s looking at what it means in modern times. We have this deeper context and layers because it’s from a woman playwright, so the similarities and parallels there are really interesting.
James: What the play does is that it gives its critical position [on the] “progression” of society and social relationships. The spirit and contours of Nora and Torvald’s relationship in A Doll’s House is consistent, and there’s these particularities that reflect this shifting social context around each of the Nora’s in a way that makes us question what progress is. What does progress actually mean?
What do you want audiences to take away from this production?
James: I think it is those questions, about what it means to change things and progress as a society. I think that’s what art, and theatre in particular, has the ability to penetrate: the veil of social appearance. To really try and get at what is going on between people in the world, and how power and society is functioning.
Leah: I think what would be interesting for audiences is the complexity of human relationships and the nuance within that. With women over the years, it’s almost like we’ve been lead to believe that love is this idolised, romanticised notion. And I think for women, it can be really hard to understand certain behaviours within relationships. Within this play, it’s quite clear love’s there but it’s a really toxic, unhealthy relationship. I think that’s something that’s not really talked about a lot, it still seems a little bit taboo, especially for young women, because you’re led to believe well if I love someone then I stay with them and I make it work—and that’s what love is. But there’s this inherent toxicity that’s implanted within that.
James: Well said, Leah, that’s a great point.
Is there anything else either of you would like to say or add?
Leah: It’s your last chance to see theatre in this iconic, amazing building on campus. It will be a very special atmosphere, I know there are some alumni working professionally in theatre that will be there. It will be a unique environment and it’s going to be so much fun.
James: Come see the show!
You can check out Nora: A Doll’s House from Tuesday April 26th at Union Theatre.
The Dialog 