Looking Back: A Doll's House Play

[KevinW]

I've just come back from watching A Doll's House play, so I figured it's time for us to spill and share our thoughts while the memory stayed fresh.

1) Rank came out on top
Doctor Rank is my favorite character of all. His one line, "Thanks for the light," just about captures the tragic nature of his character. That entire scene involving the cigar and the invisible hat was full of wonderful code and double-meanings. Just to take the light: it referred to either the fire or the years of friendship and love Rank received. Truly, his role was the most pivotal.

2) Helmer is an ass.
Helmer is an ass. 'nuff said.

3) Krogstad's change was surprising
I did not catch many of the lines spoken during his final scene. Perhaps that's why his shift in position caught me by surprise. One moment, he was furious at Mrs. Linde, then by the next minute, he was overjoyed. A minute later he came to question Lin's intentions.

4) Krogstad lacked the Russian accent
I imagined Krogstad as a burly Russian with thick voolen coat. He vould valk in and speak, in his low growl, "Give to me, all of zat money." This Krogstad was instead a man with a British accent—except he still managed to sound like a loan shark. His character was my second favorite.

5) The LETTER
FUUUUUUU
The letters! The TRUTH came out EVERY TIME with a LETTER! Surely, those letters must have meant something! And no questions asked. The director mentioned it, though, so he obviously knew it was important in some way. Which brings me to my last point . . .

6) Let's make the Facebook page
Yes We Can. Let's organize it on a separate board. How about it?

[|Ruchira|]

1. rank had a pretty face and gorgeous hair!!
2. lol yes, sexist
3. i know, love changed people..puke!
4. ahahah didn't he have a Scottish or Irish accent??? what is the actual character suppose to sound like?
5. the letter,,,i dont know....i was just waiting for nora to leave helmer
6. yes let's do it!! lol

[KevinW]

Dec 8, 2012 9:34:23 GMT -5 |Ruchira| said:

1. rank had a pretty face and gorgeous hair!!
2. lol yes, sexist
3. i know, love changed people..puke!
4. ahahah didn't he have a Scottish or Irish accent??? what is the actual character suppose to sound like?
5. the letter,,,i dont know....i was just waiting for nora to leave helmer
6. yes let's do it!! lol

Those were MY thoughts! COPYRIGHT © 2012 Kevin Winoto, All Rights Reserved.

And you thought Rank was sexy?

[Expunged] (I thought you were Stephen and I was gonna tease Stephen about calling Rank sexy.) Derp.

[gb1708]

I agree with Ru, but I thought Helmer is OK because at that time every men had power and could dominate over women so he could not act like gay, right. I mean he could not act like men and women are equal.

[ExtremelyExtremeExtremist]

Ideas:
1. Most of the actors spoke fast, but there were no difficulties because they were articulate.
2. Q&A section was interesting because we get to ask questions Ms. Boyd can¡¯t answer.
3. I hope we get to watch play for other literatures (really helped understanding the plot).


Opinions:
1. The answer depends on how the actors look like. Still, I like his quote.
2. Wasn¡¯t it Torvald? Anyways, I agree that he is the one who is childish, not Nora.
3. I don¡¯t get why Krogstad suddenly apologized Nora
4. Krogstad is not Russian, he is Norwegian.
5. What? Isn¡¯t that a formal way to send a message? Keep in mind that E-mail and cell phones didn¡¯t exist back then
6. I wonder what will happen three months later, whether everyone will remember that page (seriously, won¡¯t they even mind to search A Doll¡¯s House when bored?).

[woojongpark]

1. I was very surprised with the actors' intonations. They really fit their respective characters. Especially, I liked Mrs. Linde's voice because she played in a soft voice, although audible. I can see the difference between her normal voice and acting voice, and she really worked hard to find the right character for Mrs. Linde. Sometimes I never expected the actors to act that way, like when Mrs. Helmer screamed.

2. By seeing the play, I questioned myself: "Is Krogstad really a bad character?" Like what the actor said, Krogstad can be seen from many perspectives. When seen from Helmer's side, he is a vile man who is morally corrupted. However, by considering his situation, maybe his actions were inevitable for him.

3. Yes, I was also surprised by Krogstad's change, but I find that somehow not really smooth. Just think about it. Is it really easy to defrost the cold heart that was frozen for many years? To thaw out from hatred and sorrow just by some words from woman he once loved? (I guess Krogstad still does, still) If so, then Krogstad must be a person whose mood changes very quickly and a lot.

[JustinK.]

1. i was also surprised and confused when Krogstad changed his personality and decisions so quickly and easily with "well, thanks". Wasn't he in an unstable condition? Adding one more family member to look after and feed won't help him. (but a companion to experience the bitterness is always good)

2. i really liked the accent they had XD even though i haven't actually heard a "scottish or irish accent" but personally, i think it was awesome!

[linnie]

Hahahahah Kevin! I agree with Ruchira, Dr, Rank was quite good looking. I also feel bad for Thao; he is 37years old. She was putting on make up for every intermission for him. And Ruchira was keep saying "Oh, just look at his hair. I wanna touch it so badly. I wanna put my hands in there." And even after the play she was "Imagine Dr. Rank saying 'Do you want some of my chips?' or 'Should I refill your coke?'" (We were in Burger King). It was funny Ruchi.

I liked it because it was funny in some part and I didn't really have chances to read 19th century novel or plays. I think this will be a great source when I write essays. And I likes how Nora changed. She was more like a whiny child but as she conquers the conflict, she becomes more like Mrs. Linde. I like how her character shifts.

Another part I liked was Dr. Rank's character. I think his is like everyone's favorite but I like him because how he says is really sad. He makes his death like nothing and casual. When he leaves, it was so sad; he just said, " Thanks for the light." And I like the lamp symbolism as well. It was a great play except that Helmer made me really mad. Oh, I almost killed him when he said that he forgives her when everything was resolved. Oh, I hate that part!!!!!!!!

[jisu25]

The actors of the characters had a appearance that I was thinking differently and also the way how they acted in the play was more intense than my imagination.

[james]

Ummm... I really didnt expect dr rank to have that look.. And i expected the character to be more i dont know.. Joyful?.. I didnt know that he would be that depressing.. On top of that, i didnt even know he loves nora.. So.. That was pretty unexpected..Secondly, helmer, was just what i expected, pretty selfish and overconfident. Well that means he was suited for that character so... Its good for him.. Third, how krogstad changed was unexpected for me too especially i didnt think that things are going to be turn that way anyway, play was good and many of you enjoyed, it was good.

[sergeyfen]

Mmm i really liked krogstad as play went on, because he is not bad guy and he didnt even do stuff that helmer mentioned about him. Nora was the one to fake the signature of her dad. Lastly i felt sorry for krogstad getting dumped by ms.linde because he didnt have enough money to support her and whole her family

[lukejoo1092]

Here's what I thought about while watching the play.

So it turns out that Krogstad wasn't a bad guy after all? He's just a guy with reason. It's the stupid society that's the villain, making people do things because of what it thinks is right (which was completely wrong. pshhh). I thought about this quite a lot because most of the time in stories, there's always a good guy and a bad guy. But it turns out there's no one bad nor good. They're just who they are among one another. No wonder why the director wanted to produce this play. It's rare to see stories like this.

And also, I wished there was a part where Nora would just slap Torvald right in the face! But sadly there wasn't... I believe it would have gave the play a better overall impression to its audience... Maybe it was just too much for the 19th century to see a wife slap her husband.

[junilee26]

A doll's house!!! I was able to understand more about the play. Nora's character was played as expected, Helmer was being a dictator and was having an unhealthy relationship with Nora. I didn't imagine Krogstad with a thick british accent.. but it was good! and also Dr. Rank was gorgeous haha By watching the play helped me a lot with the visualizing.

[elisalee]

The play was better than I thought haha And also, I could understand more because I could tell the emotions. It was great