Word: torvalds
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...nervously, she is hardly able to contain her energy--and, indeed, seems ready to fly apart as an old transgression (she once forged a signature to acquire a loan) threatens to unravel her pat little marriage. Yet a freezing calm overtakes her in the final confrontation with her husband Torvald, in which McTeer (helped by Frank McGuinness's vigorous translation) stunningly conveys a woman whose eyes--and mind--are suddenly opening. "No man sacrifices his integrity for the person he loves," protests Torvald, after Nora says she expected him to take the blame if her past sin were revealed. "Hundreds...
Director Anthony Page doesn't allow McTeer's virtuoso turn to overshadow a fine supporting cast, particularly Owen Teale (who also appeared in the London production) as Torvald. He's uptight and patronizing but far from a foolish figure. When he stands alone after Nora leaves, we feel the full impact of the play's emotionally complex climax: both triumph (a woman freed) and tragedy (a family broken), a cause for cheers and for weeping. Most theatergoers will simply let out a slow exhale, after an evening that takes the breath away...
...HOUSE (PBS, March 29, 9 p.m. on most stations). Ibsen's war-horse gets a powerful, unpatronizing new production in this Masterpiece Theater import. Juliet Stevenson (Truly, Madly, Deeply) perfectly calibrates Nora's progress from docile wife to proto-feminist, and Trevor Eve avoids easy caricature as her husband Torvald. Superb...