Taylor Demontigny praises the Drama department’s upcoming production.
If you weren’t fortunate enough to attend any of BU’s finest productions before this year, you have nothing to worry about. Why? ‘A Doll’s House’ is said to be one of the greatest plays they have put on yet. So get up and go buy your tickets because this is one show you don’t want to miss!
Written in 1879, ‘A Doll’s House’ has been titled both as a play that set the stage for realist drama and better yet, the first modern feminist play. The scenes take place in one location; in this case, in the living room of the Helmer family in 1871. Nora Helmer leads us through the difficulties that women faced while living in the patriarchal society of the 1800s. The Helmer family is a middle class family in a society that values money and conventions. When Nora decides to step out of her conventional role by borrowing money, her life threatens to fall apart. How does she handle it? Well let’s not give the entire story away…
Taylor Demontigny, a fourth year student from the Bishop’s Drama department gives us a bit of insight into the preparation for this upcoming production. Having begun his drama studies in grade ten, Taylor looks to become either a playwright or an actor. Upon graduation, he wants to “get with it now” and go straight to work.
When asked to give a bit of background on the play, Taylor said it was the “first truly realistic play in that the set, the actors, everything that came out of it was realistic. It caused such an uproar with the men that when it was performed, they would have the performance and not discuss it afterwards!”
Being, in a sense, a feminist play might to make it difficult for the males to get into character. It is difficult to put aside the conventions of today and Taylor admits that “rehearsing it…well, there have been tons of rehearsals where we’ve been running scenes and up on stage we’ve broken character because it gets so intense that we’re like ‘oh my God.’”
‘A Doll’s House’ is an intriguing name for a production. Curiosity set and I wanted to understand the meaning behind the title. The play is notorious for its metaphorical aspects, the manipulation of a middle class woman in her own home. It is an oppression of freedom and Nora’s actions can be seen as a romantic quest for freedom.
Here is a bit of the interview with Taylor to give us a little more insight into ‘A Doll House.’
Teresa: How is the title incorporated into the actual play?
Taylor: The main character, Nora, is married to a man named Torvald and their marriage is kind of… it’s an odd one. Especially looking at it from now, Torvald treats her like a doll…that touched back to living with her father; she makes reference to her father a lot and he was the same way.
Teresa: In that respect and being a male in a feminist play, is getting into character a lot more difficult than in other plays that you’ve done?
Taylor: The feminist aspect does not really come into play with me… it’s different for me. I don’t play the husband; I play a character called Doctor Rank. He’s secretly in love with Nora. It’s certainly there in the scenes, though. In my eyes, the feminist qualities don’t really come in until the third act. To be honest, to be on stage and get caught up in that money-lending drama and see how the chaos ensues after that is a little bit weird.
Teresa: How do you compare ‘A Doll’s House’ to, say, previous plays? How would you rate/judge it so far, based on what you’ve seen in rehearsals?
Taylor: On a scale of 1-10, I would probably give it a 9. It’s intense. I’ve never had to work this hard in a role before. It’s almost like doing a Shakespeare play.
Teresa: Is it worth it, all the hard work?
Taylor: Definitely worth it because it’s going to be good. It’s going to be intense. ‘A Doll’s House’ on stage is almost like watching a good suspense film but even better because it’s right in front of you! The dialogue is snippy; it’s funny as hell. It’s very down to earth, playful, sarcastic funny. It’s like if Alfred Hitchcock wrote a play, he would write ‘A Doll’s House’. It’s suspenseful, it’s good.
Taylor only had great praise for the upcoming play and the look on his face as he described it said it all. Just that was enough to convince me that going to see it had to be on my list of things to do!
‘A Doll’s House’ will be performed at Turner Studio Theatre from November 24-28th. The production, directed by George Rideout, may well be one of the highlights of 2009. Let’s see for ourselves!
