Wife

02/11/2024

Preamble

New Theatre’s 2024 Spring production of Samuel Adamson’s ‘Wife’.

Directed by Darrin Redgate

An amateur review.

A Doll’s House

Borrowing from/referencing/a meta commentary/in response to Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 play A Doll’s House, each of the decades seperated scenes begin with a different production of Ibsen’s play paying homage to its enduring relevance.

On the Day

Unfortunately we were 10 minutes late for the start of the play, we took our seats after being ushered in under a cloud of embarresment; we were not able to sit in the front row as we usually prefer to do.

The Play

The first part of the play takes us through a series of time periods and characters, the central theme shared by these scenes being the struggle to reconcile society’s expectations and ones own true nature. The four stories are also intertwined through generational familial connections and combine to create an overarching story.

The first scene involves young wife Daisy and husband attending a production of A Doll’s House, afterwards Daisy goes backstage to visit lead actress Suzannah in her dressing room. Daisy is in love with Suzannah and in love with the idea of Nora. For Suzannah the young woman is a temporary fling, and she takes joy in partaking in her sexual awakening, but she is not interested in bearing responsibility for the destruction of Daisy’s family and life. Daisy (Imogen Trevillion) trembled like a leaf during the scene which took away from the imersion, this scene came across a bit over the top and didn’t appear genuine.

The second story set in 1988, explores uses the relationship between Ivar (Pete Walters) and his young closeted lover Eric (Henry Lopez Lopez), society is becoming more open to homosexuality but young homosexuals are still struggling to understand themselves. The relationship between the two is complicated by the influence of Ivar’s mother (Daisy) who’s repressed sexuality has led to her alcoholism and contributed to a poor relationship with her son. Next we move forward to 2019 where Eric’s daughter Claire confront’s an aging Ivar in an effort to understand her father.Finally we come full circle as we see Daisy (Imogen Trevillion), Clare’s daughter backstage of a production of A Doll’s House.

Comments

Overall the production was quite enjoyable, the set and costumes were interesting and although some of the conversations between the couples seems to drag on at times, I would still say it was well worth the price of admission.