How far does Nora collude in her own imprisonment in Ibsen's play? This interesting question is raised in Juliet Forster's thoughtful production for the Custard Factory theatre company. Forster has an approach to the play that sounds gimmicky but works very well. Ilona Macdonald and Kelvin Goodspeed play Nora and Torvald Helmer, the young couple whose relationship is built on play and fantasy, not reality or a genuine partnership. The rest of the cast are puppets. Nora's school friend, Kristen, is a doll that Nora finds in an old trunk; the money- lender is a looming shadow; most cleverly of all, the Helmers' friend Dr Rank is a comic little figure manipulated by Torvald. To him the couple say the things that they cannot say directly to each other.
The interaction between live actors and puppets is so seamless that you pretty quickly cease to make the distinction between the two. And the puppetry has an interesting psychological effect, further isolating Nora and Torvald from the real world as they retreat from their problems into play-acting.
The production made me realise just how infantile Nora and Torvald are, and how significant is the absence of their children. As the design makes clear, these are people who have not yet left the nursery and dressing-up box behind them. They hold each other back, both reluctant to take on the emotional maturity of the adult world.
The insights of the production, which is particularly good on the couple's see-sawing balance of power, are not always matched by the performances, which lack both sharpness and, in the case of Macdonald's Nora, variation. The attempt to make the play relevant to modern audiences by taking it out of its Victorian context and having Nora wear short skirts is also a mistake. The play, and Nora's crisis, arise out of the fact that 100 years ago a woman could not borrow money without the loan being guaranteed by either her husband or her father. Times change, but the play's psychological acuity holds true. All us latter-day Noras in the audience may be able to pay off our debts with plastic but we sometimes need reminding when it is time to slam the doll's house door behind us.
Until April 8. Box office: 020-8680 4060.
