A Doll's House: A Modern Adaptation

This essay discusses the changes that can be made in a modern adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's play, A Doll's House, which explores the theme of male chauvinism and the plight of middle-class Norwegian women. The essay focuses on changes in setting, actors, lighting, sound effects, and cinematography to make the play more appealing to a contemporary audience.

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Dramaturgy
A Doll's House is a naturalistic play that was written by Henrik Ibsen and originally
premiered on December 21, 1879 at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark. The play uses
the story of Nora Helmer, her husband Torvald Helmer, friends Kristine Linde, Dr Rank, Nils
Krogstad, and children Emmy, Boby, and Ivar to present the theme of male chauvinism and the
plight of middle-class Norwegian women at the time of the setting of the play. Despite its setting
in the 19th century, this play still resonates with the contemporary viewers because of the proper
way in which it was directed, acted, and produced. If I got an opportunity to direct this play one
more time, I would dedicate my time to do an excellent job.
As a new director, I would d everything within my capacity to produce an excellent play.
To achieve this, there are many aspects of the play that I will retain. At the same time, I will have
to make a number of changes that, in my opinion, resonate with the modern-day audience. The
first issue of consideration that I will have to make is about the setting. Initially, the setting of the
play was made at the Helmer’s house. Here, Nora and Torvald used the chance to engage in a
series of discussions on matters related to family, job, and life in general. In my new play, I will
not use the same setting (Chigbu, Gideon Uzoma and Chibuzo 139). I will shift from the family
house to a stage. Meaning, everything right from the beginning up to the very end of the play wll

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be done o stage. The stage will, however, be designed and equipped with all the resources that
wil make it suitable for the kind of action, thematic concerns, and the messages intended for the
audience. At thestage, the audence should get enough space to communicate and interact wih one
another (Hoenig 1524). The characters should be facing the audience ad at times changing
direction especially when engaging in a conversation. If not speaking, the characters should be
staring, listening, thinking, and engaging in relevant activities.
The new play will be acted on stage. Here, all the characters are expected to engage in the
discussion just the same way they did in the original play. The actors will have to be carefully
chosen and directed to ensure that they succeed in delivering the original message intended by
the writer. In order to make the play more appealing and interesting than it is, I will have to make
a few changes in the actors (Ibsen 12). When it comes to characterization and actors’ selection, I
will use a combination of the main and minor characters. However, I might reduce their number.
I will try to restrict the actors to six people only. These are the couple, two friends and two
children. So, after excluding other characters, I will only have to retain Nora, her husband
Torvald Helmer, friends Kristine, Nils Krogstad, and children Emmy and Bobby. Each of these
actors will be assigned roles that befit them. The actors will have to be added new roles that
resonate with their gender and stature in the family and society. Each of the actors will be given
appropriate costume that suits them and the particular roles that they play in the act. At the same
time, they will be given make-ups and hairstyles that resonate with their gender roles (Muñiz
443). Apart from this, I will make a proper use of cinematography by incorporating the use of
lighting and sound effect. I will have to use stencil colors that will keep on changing from time
to time depending on the prevailing events. The same applies to the sound track that will be
carefully-selected from the non-diegetic sources.

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Essay
A Doll's House is a play that was acted in a certain way to deliver a specific message to
the audience. A thorough review of the play demonstrates that the main theme it sought to
address is the light of women in the society. Nora’s experiences demonstrate that the Norwegian
society had no place for women because the society was male-dominated. That is why
throughout the play; Nora appears to be downtrodden, helpless, and vulnerable to the male folk.
In my newly-directed version, I will have to make many changes that in my opinion are
appropriate.
I will make changes on the lighting, costuming, action, location, and sound effect. I have
decided to make such changes because they can make the film to be appropriate for the modern-
day audience. I will have to change the location from the house to stage so as to make the action
ore lively, appealing, and captivating. Modern-day movie lovers prefer theatre because it gives a
conducive environment for live films. I have also decided to make changes on the actors because
I do not have to use as few actors as possible (Sturman 28). The actors are supposed to be
assigned roles, thoroughly-trained, and choreographed to ensure that they discharge their duties
diligently. At the same time, I will have to make the necessary improvements on the lighting,
sound effect, and the overall cinematography to ensure that the play id pleasant. However, what I
will not change is the thematic concerns addressed in the film. I will have to retain gender
inequality as the major theme. However, the only alteration I might make is to empower women
and give them more strength to be assertive members of the society who are not unnecessarily
submissive to the males (Yee 134). This will be done by adding a new scene and altering the
ending of the play by making Nora triumphant over the male chauvinistic Torvald. The addition

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of the new scene will not bring any issues rather than making the film appealing and captivating.
It will also enable me to succeed in effectively addressing the major theme of the play.
In conclusion, the direction of A Doll's House is a pleasant experience that will benefit
me in many ways. It is an opportunity that I cannot miss because it can impact on me in many
ways. Apart from allowing me to exercise my direction skills, it has enabled me to participate in
delivering the message of gender inequality and the struggles of women in the society. All the
changes made on the location, lighting, sound effect, costuming, and action are appropriate
because they can make the film to be suitable for the intended audience. All the changes made
were suitable because they would enable me to produce a standard film that successfully-delivers
the intended message to the audience.

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Works Cited
Chigbu, Chigbu Andrew, Gideon Uzoma Umezurike, and Chibuzo Onunkwo. "From Un-
concealment to Nothingness: Nihilism in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Zainabu Jallo’s
Onions Make Us Cry." International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature 7.4
(2018): 138-143.
Hoenig, Leonard J. "The Meaning of Vermoulu in Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts." The American journal
of medicine 131.12 (2018): 1524-1525.
Ibsen, Henrick. Four Great Plays of Henrik Ibsen: A Doll's House, The Wild Duck, Hedda
Gabler, The M. Simon and Schuster, 2016.
Muñiz, Iris. "Womanhandling Ibsen’s A Doll’s House: Feminist Translation Strategies in a
Spanish Translation from 1917." Meta: Journal des traducteurs/Meta: Translators’ Journal 63.2
(2018): 422-443.
Sturman, Marianne. CliffsNotes on Ibsen's Plays I: A Doll's House & Hedda Gabler. Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt, 2017.
Yee, Jerry. "Prophylactic Hemodialysis for Protection Against Gadolinium-Induced Nephrogenic
Systemic Fibrosis: A Doll's House." Advances in chronic kidney disease 24.3 (2017): 133-135.