ON STAGE
What: A Doll’s House, Part 2
Where: Belfry Theatre, 1291 Gladstone Ave.
When: Tonight through Oct. 14
Tickets: $57.75 at belfry.bc.ca or 250-385-6815
Though the setup is fairly simple, with four actors telling the story of a split family in 1894, there is nothing straightforward about the Belfry Theatre’s latest production, A Doll’s House, Part 2.
For starters, it’s a sequel, which is rare in the theatre world. The play, written in 2017 by American playwright Lucas Hnath, picks up 15 years after the original, a three-act lightning bolt written by playwright Henrik Ibsen in 1879.
That adds another layer of intrigue: Ibsen’s classic was pioneering in its time for how its female characters — particularly its strong-willed lead, Nora Helmer — were portrayed.
By the time the original concludes, Nora has left her husband and children, banging the door shut so hard that it’s often referred to by theatre historians as the slam heard around the world.
“The sign of a good playwright is that they leave you with questions, rather than answers,” said Toronto actor Martha Burns, who plays Nora Helmer in A Doll’s House, Part 2. “And that was certainly a big question: ‘What happened to Nora?’ ”
Benedict Campbell (who plays Nora’s husband, Torvald), Barbara Gordon (who is cast as the family’s nanny, Ann Marie) and Alice Snaden (who plays Emmy, the daughter of Nora and Torvald) also make their Belfry debuts.
A Doll’s House, Part 2 is making its Canadian première at the Fernwood venue, and runs through Oct. 14.
The Belfry production follows an award-winning run on Broadway last year that netted eight Tony Award nominations, including best play.
Though the play has 19th-century roots, the themes — about marriage, family and the roles of women in the household — are timeless. Hnath, who won a Windham–Campbell Literature Prize for his writing, does wonders with Ibsen’s characters, Burns said, adding the original was historic in the way it dealt with female empowerment in an age when men ruled the roost.
“He gave the world this character, a woman who was capable of making this decision, who believed that equality in marriage was an essential part of relationships in a much different era.
“The #MeToo movement has brought that forward again in a very heightened, emotional way, particularly relating to sexual politics. But it certainly is about the power dynamic. That is something every person needs or deserves to question.”
Hnath’s sequel will satisfy fans of Ibsen’s original, but Burns believes Part 2 stands on its own. “That’s his gift as a writer — he sets up the situation and gives you just enough information about what happened before to these people to follow what’s happening now. It’s certainly not essential at all to have seen A Doll’s House before this.”
Burns discovered Ibsen when she was a teenager, and acted in many of his plays when she was at theatre school. She also taught Ibsen a few years ago at the National Theatre School of Canada in Toronto, where she is on staff.
The two-time Gemini Award winner for her work alongside husband Paul Gross in the comedy series Slings and Arrows will return to mentor a new crop of students once her Belfry contract is up.
Burns said she will miss Victoria. Raised in Winnipeg, she visited often as a child (her uncle and his family were residents) and later as an acting student at the Vancouver Playhouse in the late 1970s.
“I’m from the Prairies, so being around the ocean is still very exotic to me.”
Burns was in Victoria last year to speak to University of Victoria theatre students following a screening of her documentary Robin & Mark & Richard III, about the unique relationship between Stratford Festival director Robin Phillips and Kids in the Hall comedian Mark McKinney. As an artist, she says she loves no form — theatre, film, teaching — more than another.
“I feel like I’ve been pretty lucky in my career, that I’ve balanced waiting to see what comes your way as an actor with other projects like directing and teaching.
“It’s really good to keep acting if you’re a teacher because the challenges are very fresh. You don’t ever get cavalier.”
