“I went in knowing nothing about Ibsen or A Doll’s House, and I came out rooting for Laura.”
Walking into the Schwarzman Centre for Burning Down the House, I knew absolutely nothing
about Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House or the real-life story of Laura Kieler. If anything, I was slightly
worried that this would leave me at a disadvantage. What I found instead was an accessible,
engaging and ultimately moving piece of theatre that completely drew me into Laura’s story.
At the heart of the production is Jacoba Williams as Laura Kieler, the woman whose
experiences partly inspired Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Williams was phenomenal, gradually
unravelling Laura over the course of the play in a way that felt completely believable. Her
deterioration never came from nowhere. Instead, we watched as the people who should have
supported her failed to do so, leaving her increasingly isolated until she was eventually
committed to an asylum. Williams made it incredibly easy to understand how Laura reached
breaking point and, more importantly, to feel deeply sorry for her.
The women of this production really were powerhouses. Ellice Stevens’ Nora helped bridge the
gap for those unfamiliar with A Doll’s House, bringing scenes from Ibsen’s play into
Laura’s story while also taking on several other roles. Nora’s presence became a constant
reminder to Laura of the fictional character her own experiences had helped inspire.
Sophie Steer was equally impressive as Suzannah Ibsen, but it was her professor character at
the beginning and end that particularly got me. I genuinely thought she was a professor. I spent
the opening watching her at the side of the stage, completely convinced by the look of awe on
her face as Ibsen spoke. It was only when she started chasing Laura around that it finally
twigged that she was an actor. Peter Clements as Henrik Ibsen and Yasser Zadeh as Victor
Kieler and Torvald gave solid performances, but the women completely stole the show.
The staging itself was simple but clever. A black box stage was transformed using a movable
piece of scenery that adapted depending on the scene, allowing the production to move easily
between different places and realities. There were also some wonderfully playful touches,
including Laura proudly acquiring a “new chair”, which turned out to be a clear inflatable sofa. It
was ridiculous, but worked completely.
There were moments of humour throughout, although this was never predominantly a comedy.
Instead, those lighter moments gave the production room to breathe before returning to the
darker reality of Laura’s situation. Lighting, sound, and staging all blended together seamlessly,
supporting the storytelling without ever distracting from it.
What stayed with me most was the idea of women being denied control over their own stories.
Laura’s experiences become material for somebody else, while her own voice risks
disappearing in the process. Burning Down the House puts that voice firmly back at the centre. I went in knowing nothing about Ibsen or A Doll’s House, and I came out rooting for Laura.
Burning Down the House runs at the Schwarzmann Centre, Oxford until 10th October – Tickets here.