Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh
Four stars
The macaroons devoured by Nora Helmer in Ibsen's
proto-feminist classic normally symbolise her infantilism. They are a childish
indulgence, cute and frivolous, for a woman not expected to grow up. It's a
different story in Zinnie Harris's version, first seen at the Donmar
Warehouse in 2009,
in which the biscuits are less a treat than an addict's escape route.
"You're supposed to be my supplier," she snaps at her friend
Christine when her fix runs out.
As the renamed Nora Vaughan in this National
Theatre of Scotland co-production, Amy Manson is no little-girl-lost but the
social and sexual equal of her husband, recast as an equitable Edwardian
politician and played with suave authority by Hywel Simons. Her problem is not
naivety but being trapped with a man who values his career and public standing
more highly than her right to self-expression. The macaroons are a safety valve
to stop her exploding with frustration.
It's an interpretation that denies us Nora's
consciousness-raising journey towards self-realisation, but offers instead a
subtle account of a marriage between two adults of equal maturity and unequal
status. Manson deflects every effort to patronise Nora; she is vivacious but
never girlish. At the same time, hers is an emotionally fluid performance that
switches from laughter to tears by the line. At one point she grabs her face to
hold a smile in place, only for her features to melt into misery beneath her
fingers. When finally she leaves, we don't doubt this passionate woman will
flourish.
Without being radical, Graham McLaren's
production, with its elegant Georgian set by Robert Innes Hopkins, makes some
forthright moves, showing us not only the erotic charge that galvanises the
central couple, but also, in Brian McCardie's ferocious Neil Kelman (Ibsen's
Krogstad), a political reptile worthy of The Thick of It.
Mark Fisher
Until 4 May (0131 248 4848). Details:
www.lyceum.org.uk
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