Displaying items by tag: Raven

Raven Theater has a penchant for aptly timed revivals, and their production of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House is no exception. Published and set circa 1879 in Norway, the play offers a snapshot of domestic life at the time, reminding us how much progress has been made since then -- and warning us not repeat history.

Nora is a happy wife with a loving husband, three children, and a comfortable home. Everything seems grand, until the cracks start to show in the veneer of their supposed domestic happiness.

Husband Torvald, smiling, makes passive-aggressive comments to his wife about her spending habits, even though she's merely purchased some Christmas gifts for the children. Nora, of course, is not allowed to work to earn her own money either. In other words, money is a catch-22 for Nora, and for Torvald's it's a way to assert dominance. He spends most of his time holed up in his study, occasionally checking in on his wife and making sure she knows her place, calling her gentle pet names like "songbird" and his "doll."

Little does Torvald know or even deign to imagine that Nora has hopes, fears, opinions, and secrets of her own that she works to hide from him. In this house, she knows it is not her place to be her own person; that is the husband's job. She is meant to decorate, care for the children alongside the nanny they already hire to care for the children, tend to her husband, and dance well at parties.

Nora is not even allowed to open the household mailbox, to which only Torvald has a key, yet another way for him to keep her under his thumb. The locked mailbox serves as a tangible symbol of the world, life, and opportunities that Nora can't access due to her position and gender. For all intents and purposes, she's a prisoner in her own domestic life, requiring permission from the warden, her husband, for anything she may need or want.

There's satisfaction in watching Nora realize over the course of the play what kind of man her husband really is, and actress Amira Danan deftly conveyed this transformation from bright and cheery to wise and wary. Whether or not she escapes her prison I'll leave a mystery. But I will leave you with the fun fact that this play caused significant controversy when it went into production in 1879.

According to playwright Ibsen at the time A Doll's House was written, "a woman isn't allowed to be herself in modern society." While that, thankfully, has changed, it should be pointed out that it was not so long ago Ibsen said this -- less than 150 years -- and to see this dynamic of the controlling husband and stifled wife play out onstage serves as a stark reminder of how far we've come, and where not to go again.

A Doll's House is playing through March 22 at Raven Theatre at 6157 N Clark St. Tickets and schedule here. 

There are times that I think the skepticism of my generation prevents me from enjoying a simple play, or at the very least accepting a play and not questioning the ending, the character’s motivations, or poking holes in plot points. My cynicism might have gotten the better of me this Monday at The Raven when seeing The Trip to Bountiful.

Trip to Bountiful is set in Texas in the 1950's where Mrs. Watts is living a life she didn’t choose- a dependent to her son and daughter-in-law in their cramped Houston apartment. If she could just make it to Bountiful, Texas to see her beloved home and friends, she could live the rest of her days in peace.

The description is rather vague, so let me drive home the main storyline: an aging woman wants only one thing in her life, to get to Bountiful. This is seemingly the one thing in the world that will bring her joy and peace and her children are both unwilling and unable to accommodate. Of course the children have their own lives to lead, and there is obvious tension within those small walls. But while we briefly learn of the son and daughter-in-laws motivations, selfishness, various desires, and heartaches, the theme is still focused on this one woman’s desire to get to her hometown of Bountiful, Texas.

While the play was excellently acted, and the story moves along nicely, the issues I developed with the play had to do with the screenplay itself. Written by Horton Foote and performed for the stage over 60 years ago, The Trip to Bountiful, much like Foote’s other plays, tells the story of an ordinary person handling the harsh realities of life and the strength of the human spirit. We are all drawn to these types of plays despite the fact it might mirror many themes within our own lives, it’s not escapism we want, it’s realism. But the reality of Bountiful is that it leaves the audience in a state of questioning when the play ends.

Here is a woman [Mrs. Watts] who so desperately wants to run away to her hometown. Not only is she pursuing a desire 20 years in the making, but simultaneously escaping the oppressive feeling of living under someone else’s roof and live her life as she wants to. You feel the longing of this character, you rue her bitter and nasty daughter-in-law, and you as an audience member empathize with the loving mother-son relationship. You grumble and groan at the obstacles Mrs. Watts must overcome, and hope against hope that she can make it to Bountiful. For the love of Texas, it’s only a bus ride away! And when she’s a mere miles away from her destination, she is stopped once more, seemingly for the last time, and she breaks down, begging, sobbing, the drama building into a beautiful crescendo, and then…skepticism sinks in.

Suddenly, this strong female lead bargains with herself that she is content with only visiting a few hours in the shadow of her home. After 20 years of waiting and veritable “oh-come-on-really?” antics blocking her trip there, you expect the audience to just accept that she is content with leaving as quickly as she had come? That she somehow finds bittersweet peace within those few hours? It’s also important to note that all of the tension the built up within that Houston apartment promise to be resolved when the curtains close. Yes, folks, there is a nice bow on this present of a play.

Call me a skeptic all you like, but The Trip to Bountiful left me wanting an explanation of the sudden 360 of its main character. For a character desiring to get to Bountiful to be contented from a short visit seemed wholly out of character. Where was the bargaining with herself? Where was the inner monologue in which she came to the conclusion of being contented? For me this plot point was a bit of a reach and broke away from the harsh realism Foote was striving towards. A great play begs you to like or dislike a character, and while there’s a possibility of changing your feelings at the end, those feelings shouldn’t change to indifference.

So was the play worth seeing? Completely, if for nothing else than the superb acting The Raven Theatre is known for. The theatre is at its best when they tackle difficult themes with seesawing emotional undertones, and their actors always rise to the occasion. You’ll enjoy the journey to Bountiful, but possibly not the destination. The Trip to Bountiful is at The Raven Theatre through November 17^th.