A Doll’s House

A Doll’s House — Drama

Director: Laura Jaanhold
Author: Henrik Ibsen
Set designer: Illimar Vihmar
Translator: Henrik Sepamaa
Choreographer: Rauno Zubko
Lighting designer: Karmen Tellisaar
Music designer: Feliks Kütt
Video artist: Mikk-Mait Kivi

Cast: Märt Avandi (guest), Liis Karpov, Karl-Andreas Kalmet, Karin Tammaru, Meelis Rämmeld, Lii Tedre (guest), Maarit Juhkamsoo (guest)

Torvald Helmer has a good life. No, even more than that. A beautiful life? No … better still, more! Torvald Helmer’s life is perfect. That’s right. Perfect! And he has built it all himself. He has worked hard. Striven to reach this day, when he can say: my life is perfect. Because Torvald and Nora Helmer are a couple who have that something — a happy marriage, lovely children, a cosy home. As Torvald says, Nora is beautiful. And as Nora observes, Torvald has a good job and has just been promoted. Very soon, they and their three children will be entering a new era of prosperity and abundance. Torvald Helmer is content. Christmas is coming. The tree is big and beautiful, waiting to be decorated. Nora has bought all the presents. Things couldn’t get any better! And just then — they do! An old friend walks in, and then another. It gets even better! Even cosier! Even more perfect! What could be nicer than reminiscing about good times and making new memories in the shared Christmas spirit? Abundance! Beauty! Joy! And just then — but.

The 1879 play A Doll’s House by Norwegian dramaturgical classic Henrik Ibsen became a turning point in theatre history. Ibsen explored the psychological abuse that usually remained behind closed doors with unprecedented courage and candour. The pan-European controversy that followed the play’s publication even prompted Ibsen to write an alternative ending for its German premiere, one more suited to the moral sensibilities of Germans at the time. Of course, nobody uses that ending now. But one thing is certain: for 145 years, A Doll’s House has remained in the repertoires of theatres around the world. At Endla, this masterpiece of world drama will return to the stage for the second time after an exact 110-year break.