Page 19 - the NOISE October 2012

FROM LEFT: Dave Rentz returns to West of the Moon this October; Catherine Sickafoose is at ZHouse Gallery.
privately in the home and publicly. It’s a ve- hicle for understanding social change.”
Mr. Sweet tells me about his character. “Torvald really wants to take care of his wife. There’s a part of every human being that
wants to protect their loved ones. He’s not a very likeable person and to me, that’s what makes him likeable. He loves his wife and wants to protect her from the big, bad world.”
“Ibsen is such a master at interweaving the characters and lines,” assistant director Sheila Lord tells me. “Everything links to ev- erything else and builds seamlessly. If I had to choose one specific part, though, I would say it is in Act III, when the transition happens. Nora painfully realizes Torvald is not the man she thought, and faces the fact she needs more from life than to remain ever his doll.”
“It is amazing that a play written in the 1800s still holds true,” says Ms. Lord. “It amaz- es me, in fact, that a woman’s point of view
was even acknowledged so long ago. While women have made great strides in fulfilling their destinies, I feel the play shows the con- tinuing struggles women face in changing the way typical male/female relationships are still viewed and often lived out in our society. I feel the audience should know they are in for an evening of fine theatre; this moving play has great emotional impact and is most assuredly worth seeing.”
Director Mickey Mercer is theoretically retired, though he can still be found where I first met him as a student at Flagstaff High School, where he teaches a drama class in the Interest Pathways program.
Though A Doll’s House was originally set in
1879, Mr. Mercer has decided to move it to take place in the 1950s.
“The basic premise of a woman freeing her- self and becoming aware of herself as a hu- man being rather than being her husband’s plaything also happened in the 1950s,” Mr. Mercer says. “Isben stated that, ‘It wasn’t just about women, it’s about human beings.’ Nora breaks the normal rules; even her husband in the end of the play is becoming aware. This play is about breaking through the chains of rules society places on you to keep you from being truly who you really are.”
“Joe and Adrienne have done so much more than I could have wished for in actors,” the di- rector says. “They take direction quickly and they’re serious about their roles. The cast has done the same thing. They’re focused and have worked hard.”
“This is one of my favorite plays and I’ve wanted to do it for a long time ...When it first came out, it raised a bunch of ruckus. A wom- an leaving her husband just didn’t happen ... Divorce was almost unheard of.
“I think of my mother. She was very much the perfect housewife, she almost vacuumed the floor in her high heels. I never saw her without her makeup on. There she was, being the perfect housewife, acquiescing to my fa- ther, and at the same time she got a building for the Young Women’s’ Christian Association. She was very involved in her service league. After she died, I started seeing she was very smart and very aware of things. That’s what I see beginning to happen to Nora. ‘What am I really?’ she asks, “I’ve been a doll to my father and then my husband.’”
“A Doll’s House was based on a true story,”
CONTINUED ON 20
thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news magazine • OCTOBER 2012 • 19