I’LL RIP OUT YOUR TONGUE
What makes life worth living?
“For women, only one standard of female beauty is sanctioned: the girl.” This phrase of Susan Sontag’s encapsulates the autonomy-denying image of women as objects. In Bunraku, a type of Japanese puppet theatre, “in plays with supernatural themes, a puppet may be constructed so that its face can quickly transform into that of a demon.”
These two phrases inspire the title and content of Doll, which is based on Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Undeniably relevant even today, the great Norwegian dramatist’s work highlights how women in male-dominated societies all over the world are looked down on and manipulated. It is striking how little conditions for women have changed since 1879, when the play – groundbreaking for its time – was written.
At the heart of this dark and insidiously violent work is a married couple bound by an unequal sexual relationship and a pervasive sense of financial insecurity — and between them, a secret. When it is revealed, the ensuing conflict brings to the surface deep existential questions that can be answered neither through reason nor instinct. The play takes on a mythical – almost metaphysical – dimension, because these are issues that remain unresolved to this day. At the end, Nora transforms from a doll into a demon not because she is the embodiment of evil, but because she claims the choice and responsibility that freedom demands. The final rupture is not merely a departure from the house. It is an explosion!
A Doll’s House takes place in a living room around Christmas. The interior of the house is glimpsed through windows and half-open doors, as if it is being observed from outside. The action slips in and out of view behind the walls of the set, rupturing realism and, through concealment, revealing the dark aspects, awkward pauses, cruel actions and bold words of the characters.
The family’s children live mainly outside the world of adults, beyond the confines of the house, which they watch, desire, and fear, sometimes quiet and otherworldly, and sometimes hyperactive and talkative. The nanny looks after the children as if they are pets; the moneylender becomes a catalyst for the truth to be revealed; the doctor, who is also the only friend of the family, is terminally ill; an acquaintance from the past suddenly intrudes, asking for protection. Meanwhile, the husband is constantly calculating numbers, counting money, and checking Nora’s weight. Nora, in turn, eats incessantly and her emotional hunger grows into something intense and uncontrollable.
Christmas and life in the house are stripped of anything spiritual. Money rules supreme and determines people’s fate and their relationships. Everyone is praying for salvation to the one true god, mammon. Nora does not fall apart merely to piece herself back together again, but to claim the right to dream of a better world. To answer the question: “What makes life worth living?”
Creative Team
- Translation
Giorgos P. Depastas
- Adaptation, direction, set design
Maria Panourgia
- Dramaturgical advisor
Antonis Antonopoulos
- Set design
Poulcheria Tzova
- Costume design
Ioanna Tsami
- Music
George Mizithras
- Movement
Zoe Hadjiantoniou
- Lighting design
Dimitris Kasimatis
- Production dramaturg
Eva Saraga
- Directing assistant
Georgia Kanellopoulou
- Set design assistant
Maria Stathopoulou
Cast
Aris Armaganidis
Stella Vogiatzaki
Babis Galiatsatos
Eleana Georgouli
Despina Karagianni
Marina Malliou
Christiana Matelska Toka
Katerina Papadaki
Fidel Talampoukas
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