Claire McGill - Nora Helmer

The Interviews

Claire McGill - Nora Helmer

Claire had studied A Doll’s House superficially when she was

studying for her degree but she hadn’t actually thought about

the part of Nora in particular so she came to the audition with

an open mind. She felt that this was good because she could

‘do what came naturally.’ She didn’t really like the character at

first and one of her concerns was that this might result in the

audience not being able to feel sympathy for her. She talked this

through with Linda and they agreed that Nora was childish and manipulative but she also had

strong and iconic characteristics and wanted the best. She did what she thought was right and

reacted to what she felt was the essential truth to the situation - a strong and positive character.

In the final moments of the play, Claire found the point when Nora actually leaves quite hard to

do. “It is a very emotional action and comes after a play that is emotional for 95 percecnt of the

time. You had learned the lines, you knew what emotions you were playing but the involvement

had to be there and if you didn’t feel it, it would not be a believable performance.”

The rehearsals were very enjoyable. Claire found that Linda’s way of rehearsing was very

different from what she had met before and by getting to know Nora better she learned to like

and love things about the character. “The audience has to believe that you are Nora on the

stage; if they do, that is the best thing and you have achieved your goal.”

Claire enjoyed playing the part enormously. She enjoyed the range of emotions and felt hat it

was a different role from the lighter roles she normally plays- she liked playing a darker

character. The visual impact of the character was important and made her think about the

character. She felt possessed by the play which was very intense for her

Claire preferred Act 3 because in Act 1 Nora is most childish and immature but his is ironic

because she is hiding a dark secret under the gaiety and has taken grown-up steps to help her

husband. Act 3 has so much more drama in it and this is what she really enjoyed.

The scene with Dr Rank is very intense and she enjoyed playing this with Barry; also, her

interaction with Kristine, played by Hilary, who she has worked with before, went very well.

Generally it was a great pleasure to work with all the members of the cast. She loved the

opportunity to do ‘her little dance’, the tarantella.

The costumes needed time to get used to them. The material of the blue outfit was not very nice

to wear and it was not flattering. The cream one was lovely and red one was very dramatic; it

particularly emphasised the sauciness of the tarantella.

Learning the part was fairly onerous. She had to travel two hours daily on the tube and that is

how she was able to put the time in

Desmond Gaynor - Torvald

Desmond Gaynor plays Torvald with his native Irish accent which he, himself, doesn’t notice, but which is obvious to others.

The Dublin lilt is overlaid a little with American, influenced by

people he has worked with. At first he worried that it would be

obtrusive but, after a the first couple of minutes, it is rapidly

accepted by the audience who stop being aware of it. His concession

to acting in southern England is to modify the flat ‘a’s in words such as ‘dance’ or ‘can’t’.

He sees the part as a ‘big role’ - the biggest he has played to date so it was something of a

challenge to learn all the lines. He wasn’t really worried about being able to act it, feeling that this

would sort itself out when the time came. It is interesting that Torvald is interested only in himself

and Desmond became so self-absorbed in playing the char that he did not consciousy notice

how other the characters were developing.

Desmond is an intuitive actor and does not really take an analytical view of the part but he

found it helpful to be asked by the director to go away and answer a number of questions about

the character’s motivations and so on. However, he did not spend a lot of time meditating on

the part. Whilst he will start off by using his own interpretation he feels that he must fit the

director’s conception of the part. In practice, the main inputs from the director were to

exaggerate Torvald’s pompousness for theatrical emphasis, to let go and really lose his temper

in some scenes rather than just appearing irritated, to make a point of smiling and being happy

in the early scenes and to slap the table for emphasis.

In the scenes where Torvald embraces his wife, Linda encouraged him to appear more sexy and

intimate. His wooden stance elsewhere was the result of deliberately eliminating all gestures

without a specific purpose emphasising the controlled inward-looking character of this selfish

man.

The part requires a wig which presented one or two minor problems. After an over-copious

application of spirit gum that glistened under the lights, Desmond developed confidence that it

would not fall off and restricted the gum to keeping the edges neatly tacked down. In the final

scene when he sits despairing at Nora’s departure with head in hands, he had to make sure that

it was really face-in-hands to avoid dislodging the wig. Other parts of the costume needed to be

controlled: the smoking jacked needed safety pins to secure it and keeping the tails of the tail-

coat out of the way when sitting down required a deliberate effort. Anne Gerrard (Anne-Marie)

was able to assist with the rapid costume change in Act 2 as she was not on stage.

Hilary McDermott – Kristine Linde

Hilary first saw A Doll’s House about 30 years agobut says that

the only character that stuck in the mind was Nora and she

particularly remembered the tarantella scene. Overall there

was an impression of a very important play and she was keen

to be in the East Lane production.

Kristine was the character that Hilary really wanted– it was not

an enormous part and it suited her age. She said that she

couldn’t have contemplated Nora. Before going to audition, Hilary

researched the play on the internet and read several articles and

essays. In many ways she found Kristine a perplexing part – puzzling out the real motivations,

deciding the nature of the relationship with Nora and why, when she had it in her power to make

things alright for Nora she did not.

The rehearsal process at East Lane was quite different from rehearsals that she had

encountered elsewhere and she found it very enjoyable. It suited her love of literary criticism and

looking at motivation and characterisation. Linda gave everyone ‘homework’ to research and

write down different aspects of their character – with page references. Then Hilary went on to

look at essays on the book that she obtained on the internet. It became obvious that one could

find almost any interpretation for characters – for instance, Nora could be an icon for feminism

way before her time or just a silly lady who lost control and panicked. The aspect of rehearsals

that was, for Hilary, superfluous was the warm-ups but they did set the tone for what was to

come.

Laurence Conway – Krogstad

The correct pronunciation of the name’ Krogstad’was no known

and it was important that everyone pronounced it in the same

way. It was therefore decided to standardise on one

pronunciation: ‘Krog shtat’ .

Laurence realised from the beginning that Krogstad was the

villain of the piece and had to be played that way. He found it

hard to find redeeming qualities in spite of the various

vulnerabilities that come out during the play. Above all, Krogstad is a

person who is all for himself. He is human and has his weaknesses but it is

hard to sympathise with him. He feels that everyone is out to get him and the attitude of the

other characters in the play reinforces this. He does admit to having done something illegal in

the past and he has been particularly hard done by and shunned and slapped in the face for

the whole of his life. However, that does not make him any better a person. He is therefore very

suspicious of other people’s motives and when he finally accepts that Kristine is sincere he says

“ … Now, I’ll be able to redeem myself in other people’s eyes.” At the heart of it, Krogstad is a very

self-centred person.

Laurence tried not only to bring out the hardness and unpleasantness of Krogstad’s character

but also to convey his uncomfortable feelings and weaknesses by the use of body language.

Whilst, Linda wanted him to find a softer side and to show his humanity it was hard to find any

sympathetic human qualities. As the play progressed, the interaction with other characters

served to reinforce the hardness of Krogstad. Laurence felt that the part cried out for him to be

mean and nasty. The more vulnerable Nora was, the meaner and nastier Krogstad became. The

role was a satisfying one and Laurence enjoyed playing it more and more as the play went on.

His major feedback comment was, “You were really nasty.”

One technique that was worked out together with the director was to use the gloves and bowler

hat as devices to increase the tension at various points. When Krogstad made an entrance,

Laurence was very deliberate about walking in slowly, carefully putting the hat on the table and

playing with the gloves before speaking. In a sadistic way, this kept both Nora, who was on

tenterhooks, to know what he wanted and the audience waiting for the moment when he began

to speak.

As a member of East Lane for about ten years, Laurence is delighted to have the opportunity to

play a wide range of roles and to have the support and expertise of many other accomplished

members. He gets a lot of satisfaction out of trying to ‘become’ the various characters and feels

very fortunate in having the facilities of such a marvellous theatre. He points out the enormous

advantages of being able to rehearse from the word ‘go’ on the stage that is to be used for

performances and to build the sets over a long period directly in situ. Also, the set does not have

to be removed until the company is ready to do so as the premises will not be in use by others

the next day. Laurence also enjoys directing which he has been able to do about every two

years.

Barry Serjent - Dr Rank

The character is written to be a contemporary of Torvaldbut the

decision was made to play Dr Rank as rather older. This was to suit

Barry’s chronological age and to fit in with the other characters so he

became an old family friend. He is a very interesting character – a

batchelor with tertiary syphilis and a mixture of bitterness and resignation

towards his fate and impending death.

The bitterness is largely because he was not responsible for the condition, which he has

inherited from his father who ‘carried on’ when he was in the army. Barry researched the illness

on a visit to his doctor for a regular check-up and startled the GP with a request to know the

symptoms of the disease. He received a rather old-fashioned look and the remark that he had

not seen many cases of tertiary syphilis recently.

On stage, some symptoms had to be played down for practical reasons - bumping into people

would not work well, for example. Unsteadiness on the feet was indicated by the use of a

walking stick - a silver-topped cane that belonged to Barry’s great uncle who would have used it

before the first world war. Barry was also the only member of the cast wearing his own clothes

but it was a slight struggle to get into his white tie and tails.

Barry noted that, if the character of Dr Rank were deleted, it would not materially affect the play,

though it is nicely dovetailed in to break up a scene. Rank does a little scene setting in Act 1

about Krogstad and he is someone for Nora to confide in in Act 2. Also, there is the drama in Act

3 with his impending death but, with some adjustment.

Although one gets a picture of the character from the dialogue, Barry tried not to pin it down

until he starts working on it so that it will fit in with the director’s conception and the actual

interaction with the other characters. To avoid the potential clash of ideas that could result, Barry

tries not to read the scrip before the audition, relying on his sight reading. His way of working is to

work at home a great deal to get inside the character rather than rely entirely on rehearsals and

direction, especially if the part is relatively small and the greatest attention needs to be focussed

on the main characters. He goes over and over lines, immersing himself in it because there is not

enough time to do this in the theatre in as much detail over an eight week rehearsal period

The character, of course, developed in the course of rehearsals. Initially it was too old because

the walking stick from props caused Barry to stoop too much. Some of the emphasis on the

death-wish faded a little and the affection for Nora grew. It was a difficult balance between the

cynicism and the bitterness and it was not until there was a eal audience that it became

apparent that there were several funny lines in the part. The resulting laughter was quite

surprising but varied immensely from night to night.

Audience reaction is quite unpredictable. Barry had an ‘impromptu’ line up his sleeve for the

inevitable mobile phone ringing during the performance: ‘If that’s a call for me, tell them I am

otherwise engaged’ – but it was never used.

Janice Martin – Helene

Janice viewed the character of the maid, Helene as a devoted servantwho was very caring and protective

towards her mistress. She also felt that Helene was a friend to

Nora, cared deeply for her and looked after her.

Linda was instrumental in helping Janice to pick up and be aware of the

situation in the room and the moods of the other characters on each of her entrances so

that she became part of each situation whether happy or sad. ‘Being with the moment’ was

achieved by reading the play more closely and sensing personal interaction with the

characters. Her last entrance when Helene brought in the letter and Torvald snatched it out

of her hand before Nora could see it, felt really emotional. It seemed so cruel and the feeling

of protectiveness came out very strongly.

Helene had to wear an elaborate wig with plaited side bunches. It had a tendency to ride up

slightly so she was always aware of it and avoided taking it off between entrances. (Janice

says she has a higher forehead than the last character who wore this wig and at one point

Linda, noticing how high it was, accused her of cutting the fringe.) But, the appearance

fitted the director’s vision of the character and gave her a very period Scandinavian

appearance. Janice had another physical problem to grapple with – getting the Christmas

tree through the door without knocking it on the top of the doorframe or jolting the candles

out of position. Bryan Hourihane, having had the same problem with the same tree in a

previous production showed her how to manage it and more glue kept the candles from

moving.

Janice, who has been a member of East Lane for 10 years, appreciated Linda’s direction, not

just the exploration of one’s own character but how one sees the other people in the

production. It was very interesting how real feelings about characters developed once one

was on stage. “Laurence (playing Nils Krogstad) – what a dreadful, evil man! I don’t like you

because you’re horrible to my mistress” She felt that all the characters inA Doll’s House found their characters extremely well, helped greatly by Linda’s direction – very firm but she

gets results. She found the way that the characters were developed over the rehearsal

period very interesting – “Linda goes behind the mask”.