Review: Nukkekoti, osa 2

Helsinki City Theatre’s Dollhouse, part 2 – what will happen to Nora?

The initial view is impressive. The double doors in the middle of the back wall of the small stage of the sparsely staged Helsinki City Theatre are opened, and a beautiful, dark woman in a gorgeous burgundy outfit and an even more impressive brimmed hat stands in the doorway. It is immediately clear that the woman is Nora from Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, who has returned after her absence to the house from which she left fifteen years earlier with the doors slamming, disappointed in her husband, disappointed in her marriage and leaving her three small children in the care of nanny Anne Marie.

Before watching Lucas Hnath’s play A Doll’s House, Part 2, I think it’s good to recap what happened in the first part, Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. A truly simplified version of A Doll’s House, written in 1879, is as follows: Nora is married to Torvald, who does not approve of borrowing money under any circumstances. However, Nora has resorted to borrowing money after Torvald was ill and to get treatment for him. She has done this in secret and forged her father’s signature on the papers, as she always needed her father’s or husband’s consent for contracts. Time has passed, Nora has almost repaid the loan by squeezing her finances when the situation is revealed due to certain patterns related to Torvald’s work. Torvald is furious and considers Nora immoral and therefore an unsuitable mother to their three children, but forgives her. That is not enough for Nora, as she has found out that their union is not equal and she decides to go in search of herself.

Ibsen’s play was very bold in 19th-century Norwegian society, bringing out thoughts and feelings behind a restrained exterior. But what new does the sequel, which is still set in the 1800s, have to offer in the 2010s?

The play Dollhouse, Part 2 has four actors. Nora, nanny Anne Marie, husband Torvald and Nora and Torvald’s youngest child, already an adult Emmy. Susanna Mikkonen, who plays Nora, is on stage all the time and takes turns talking to the others.

Without plot reveals, you can tell that Nora has come home and once again there is a contract paper on the agenda, which requires a man to sign it. In other words, she has not come to miss her old life, her husband or her children, but for quite practical reasons. Life in the dollhouse has settled down without Nora, so her return naturally mixes thoughts and brings old feelings to the surface.

Had Nora’s departure been fair to the others? Everyone takes turns recounting how Nora’s search for herself had affected their lives. Nora, however, is quite a Teflon, she is not even moved by how the children have experienced their mother’s departure. Surprisingly, it doesn’t matter at all that you’re wearing period clothes, because the text is very timeless. The play’s speech is in modern language, which emphasizes timelessness, the fundamental needs of the human race to be seen, accepted and loved. To be important to someone.

Susanna Mikkonen is a completely new acquaintance for me, and the role of Noora is demanding. She was at times a confident and strong Nora in the role, but on the other hand, her smiling appearance bent gently to anger and rage. Ursula Salo as the nanny Anne Marie played a convincing role, as did her new acquaintance, Elina Hietala, who played the Emmy daughter, whose emotional register was very believable. Santeri Kinnunen got to bring a surprisingly sympathetic side of Torvaldi to the stage.

Lucas Hnath has written a good play that makes the audience think about relationships, there is a surface for identification from many angles. The play is especially freshened up by her daughter Emmy, who spouts truths like young adults do. The set design is simple but functional. In the final solution of the play, even the walls of the dollhouse collapse, and as a spectator, I was left with the feeling that I still needed a Dollhouse, part three!