APT's "A Doll's House" is everything you'd want in a great play

By Gwen Rice, OnMilwaukee, August 21, 2019.

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen shocked European audiences at the end of the 19th century with his play, "A Doll's House." In this classic domestic drama, Ibsen vividly portrays the limited legal, professional and personal options available to women at the time. He also introduced viewers to a completely new kind of heroine, one who – spoiler alert – declares her independence and defies societal expectations by leaving her husband and family to pursue her own goals.

American Players Theatre's production of "A Doll's House," running in the Touchstone Theatre in Spring Green through Oct. 6, is also shocking – in its relevance and its astonishing emotional depth. This thoughtful, multi-layered production directed by Keira Fromm will completely supplant any melodramatic interpretations of the required reading text you may have suffered through in a high school English class. Kept resolutely in the world of Norway in 1879 in its aesthetics, the play nonetheless feels vibrant and vital for modern audiences.

To accomplish this, the production depends on extraordinary performances, design and interpretation from the entire cast and creative team.

The Design

Scenic designer Andrew Boyce has created a fashionable Victorian home designed to impress guests with its harmony and subtle elegance. An impeccable set of gold-rimmed china sits on a silver platter, ready to serve a proper tea. The dusty rose and mauve floral wallpaper stretches to cover the entire back wall of the stage, but dwarfs the outline of a miniature, claustrophobic "house," a recessed sitting area with two small windows and a lone lamp. The walls that seem as impenetrable as a fortress are later revealed to be translucent.

Similarly, costume designer Raquel Adorno has created exquisite clothing that easily communicates class and relative affluence as adeptly as time period and Norwegian culture. As Torvald, Nate Burger enters cutting a dashing figure in a luxe monogrammed, floor-length smoking jacket. Looking like a delicate, sweet dessert, Nora (Kelsey Brennan) begins the show in white bodice and whimsical, tiered pink skirt adorned with bows. Her garnet-colored, floor-length gown embroidered with traditional Scandinavian patterns is absolutely stunning, as is the more sensible and conservative dark blue bustle dress she dons to leave the house. More somber, less buoyant characters such as Mrs. Linde (Aila Peck) and Nils Krogstad (Juan Rivera Lebron) are clad in simpler earth tones.

Read the full review here!