Henrik Ibsen
Gonzaga Players
THEATRE
(20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906)
FEBRUARY 26th
TO March 2nd,
2013
Celebrating 12
Years of Gonzaga
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of realism" and is one of
the founders of Modernism in the theatre. His major works include Brand,
Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, Emperor and Galilean, A Doll's House,
Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, Rosmersholm, and The Master
Builder.
Several of his plays were considered scandalous to many of his era, when
European theatre was required to model strict morals of family life and propriety. Ibsen's work examined the realities that lay behind many façades,
revealing much that was disquieting to many contemporaries. It utilized a
critical eye and free inquiry into the conditions of life and issues of morality. The poetic and cinematic play Peer Gynt, however, has strong surreal
elements.
Ibsen is often ranked as one of the truly great playwrights in the European
tradition. Richard Hornby describes him as "a profound poetic dramatist—
the best since Shakespeare". He influenced other playwrights and novelists
such as George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller, James Joyce, and
Eugene O'Neill. Many critics consider him the greatest playwright since
Shakespeare.[3]
Ibsen wrote his plays in Danish (the common written language of Denmark
and Norway) and they were published by the Danish publisher Gyldendal.
Although most of his plays are set in Norway—often in places reminiscent
of Skien, the port town where he grew up—Ibsen lived for 27 years in Italy
and Germany, and rarely visited Norway during his most productive years.
Born into a merchant family connected to the patriciate of Skien, his dramas were shaped by his family background. He was the father of Prime Minister Sigurd Ibsen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_Ibsen
A Doll’s House
By: Henrik Ibsen
Directed by Matthew Burnham
A Doll’s House: Summary
Act one
A Doll's House opens as Nora Helmer returns from Christmas shopping. Her husband Torvald
comes out of his study to banter with her. They discuss how their finances will improve now that
Torvald has a new job as the vice president of the bank. Torvald expresses his horror of debt. Nora
behaves childishly, and he enjoys treating her like a child to be instructed and indulged.
Soon, an old friend of Nora's, Christine Linde, arrives. She is a childless widow who is moving back
to the city. Her husband left her no money, so she has tried different kinds of work and now hopes
to find some work that is not too strenuous. Nora confides to Kristine that she once secretly borrowed money from a disgraced lawyer, Nils Krogstad, to save Torvald's life when he was very ill,
but she has not told him in order to protect his pride. She told everyone that the money came from
her father, who died at about the same time. She has been repaying the debt from her housekeeping budget and also from some work she got copying papers by hand, which she did secretly in her
room, and took pride in her ability to earn money "as if she were a man." Torvald's new job promises to finally liberate her from this debt.
Nora asks Torvald to give Kristine a position as a secretary in the bank, and he agrees, as she has
experience in bookkeeping. They leave the house together.
Krogstad arrives and tells Nora that he is worried he will be fired. He asks her to help him keep his
job and says that he will fight desperately to keep it. Nora is reluctant to commit to helping him, so
Krogstad reveals that he knows she committed forgery on the bond she signed for her loan from
him. As a woman, she needed an adult male co-signer, so she said she would have her father do so.
However the signature is dated three days after his death, which suggests that it is a forgery. Nora
admits that she did forge the signature, so as to spare her dying father further worry about her
(she was pregnant, poor, and had a seriously ill husband). Krogstad explains that the forgery betrayed his trust and is also a serious crime. If he told others about it, her reputation would be ruined, as was his after a similar "indiscretion," even though he was never prosecuted. He implies that
what he did was in order to provide for his sick wife, who later died.
Act two
Christine arrives to help Nora repair a dress for a costume party she and Torvald plan to attend the
next day. Torvald returns from the bank, and Nora pleads with him to reinstate Krogstad in his position, claiming she is worried Krogstad will publish libelous articles about Torvald and ruin his career. Torvald dismisses her fears and explains that, although Krogstad is a good worker and seems
to have turned his life around, he must be fired because he is not deferential enough to Torvald in
front of other bank personnel. Torvald then retired to his study to work.
Next Dr. Rank, a family friend, arrives. Nora proposes asking him for a favor, to which Rank reveals
that he has entered the terminal stage of tuberculosis of the spine (a contemporary euphemism for
congenital syphilis)[8] and that he has always been secretly in love with her. Nora tries to deny the
first revelation and make light of it but is more disturbed by his declaration of love. She tries clumsily to tell him that she is not in love with him but that she loves him dearly as a friend.
Dr. Rank, a family friend, arrives. Nora asks him for a favor, to which Rank reveals that he has entered the terminal stage of tuberculosis of the spine (a contemporary euphemism for congenital
syphilis)[9] and that he has always been secretly in love with her. Nora tries to deny the first revelation and make light of it but is more disturbed by his declaration of love. She tries clumsily to tell
him that she is not in love with him but that she loves him dearly as a friend.
Desperate after being fired by Torvald, Krogstad arrives at the house. Nora convinces Dr. Rank to
go in to Torvald's study so he will not see Krogstad. When Krogstad confronts Nora, he declares
that he no longer cares about the remaining balance of Nora's loan but that he will preserve the associated bond in order to blackmail Torvald into not only keeping him employed but promoting him
as well. Nora explains that she has done her best to persuade her husband but that he refuses to
change his mind. Krogstad informs Nora that he has written a letter detailing her crime (forging her
father's signature of surety on the bond) and puts it in Torvald's mailbox, which is locked.
Summary provided by: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Doll’s_House
Congratulations to the members of the Gonzaga
Players who competed in the 2013 Sears Drama
Festival at St. Marcellinus S.S.
Sears Drama
Festival
My Narrator
Norm Foster
Lacey
Miles
Barb
Bob
Student Director
Staff Supervisor
Cast
Alanna Avila
Steven Griffin
Shenique Rochester
Kenis Arauz
Bradley Mendes
Mrs. N. Gabriele
Mrs. J. Gomes
A Doll’s House: Henrik Ibsen
Nora tells Christine of her predicament. Christine says that she and Krogstad were in love before
she married and promises that she will try to convince him to relent.
Torvald enters and tries to retrieve his mail but Nora distracts him by begging him to help her with
the dance she has been rehearsing for the costume party, feigning anxiety about performing. She
dances so badly and acts so childishly that Torvald agrees to spend the whole evening coaching
her. When the others go in to dinner, Nora stays behind for a few
Act three
Christine tells Krogstad that she only married her husband because she had no other means to
support her sick mother and young siblings and that she has returned to offer him her love again.
She believes that he would not have stooped to unethical behavior if he had not been devastated by
her abandonment and in dire financial straits. Krogstad is moved and offers to take back his letter
to Torvald. However, Christine decides that Torvald should know the truth for the sake of his and
Nora's marriage.
After literally dragging Nora home from the party, Torvald goes to check his mail but is interrupted
by Dr. Rank, who has followed them. Dr. Rank chats for a while so as to convey obliquely to Nora
that this is a final goodbye, as he has determined that his death is near. Dr. Rank leaves, and Torvald retrieves his letters. As he reads them, Nora steels herself to take her life. Torvald confronts
her with Krogstad's letter. Enraged, he declares that he is now completely in Krogstad's power—he
must yield to Krogstad's demands and keep quiet about the whole affair. He berates Nora, calling
her a dishonest and immoral woman and telling her she is unfit to raise their children. He says that
from now on their marriage will be only a matter of appearances.
A maid enters, delivering a letter to Nora. The letter is from Krogstad, yet Torvald demands to read
the letter, taking it from Nora. Torvald exults that he is saved as Krogstad has burned the incriminating papers. He takes back his harsh words to his wife and tells her that he forgives her. Nora
realizes that her husband is not the strong and gallant man she thought he was and that he truly
loves himself more than he does her.
Torvald explains that, when a man has forgiven his wife, it makes him love her all the more since it
reminds him that she is totally dependent on him, like a child. He dismisses Nora's agonized choice
made against her conscience for the sake of his health and her years of secret efforts to free them
from the ensuing obligations and danger of loss of reputation, while preserving his peace of mind,
as a mere mistake that she made owing to her foolishness, one of her most endearing feminine
traits.
Nora tells Torvald that she is leaving him to live alone so she can find out who she is and what she
believes and decide what to do with her life. She says she has been treated like a doll to play with,
first by her father and then by him. Concerned for the family reputation, Torvald insists that she
fulfill her duty as a wife and mother, but Nora says that her first duties are to herself and that she
cannot be a good mother or wife without learning to be more than a plaything. She reveals that she
had expected that he would want to sacrifice his reputation for hers and that she had planned to
kill herself to prevent him from doing so. She now realizes that Torvald is not at all the kind of person she had believed him to be and that their marriage has been based on mutual fantasies and
misunderstanding.
Torvald is unable to comprehend Nora's point of view, since it contradicts all that he had been
taught about the female mind throughout his life. Furthermore, he is so narcissistic that it would be
impossible for him to bear to understand how he appears to her, as selfish, hypocritical and more
concerned with public reputation than with actual morality. Nora leaves her keys and wedding ring
and, as Torvald breaks down and begins to cry, baffled by what has happened, Nora leaves the
house, slamming the door behind herself.
Alternative ending
It was felt by Ibsen's German agent that the original ending would not play well in German theatres;
therefore, for the play's German debut, Ibsen was forced to write an alternative ending for it to be
considered acceptable.[9] In this ending, Nora is led to her children after having argued with Torvald. Seeing them, she collapses, and the curtain is brought down. Ibsen later called the ending a
disgrace to the original play and referred to it as a 'barbaric outrage'.
Summary provided by: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Doll’s_House
The Cast
Torvald Helmer
Justin Nahhas
Nora Helmer
Maria Christopoulos
Mrs. Linde
Lyla Abbas
Nils Krogstad
Cole Bisson
Dr. Rank
Cameron Smith
Anne-Marie
Ivana Sarmiento-Uribe
Helen
Zara Diab
Porter
Ordren Deko
Helmer Children
Isabella & Aliza Gabriele
Graduating
Gonzaga Players
Lyla Abbas
Kenis Arauz
Alanna Avila
Cole Bisson
Carolyn Blakely
Micaela Cali
Maria Christopoulos
Alain Croteau
Zara Diab
Laura Fusca
Steven Griffen
Bradley Mendes
Devron Mundreon
Justin Nahhas
Cameron Smith
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely
players”
William Shakespeare
Gonzaga Players Past
Productions
The Crucible
Biloxi Blues
The Effects of Gamma Rays
2005-2006
2006-2007
2006-2007
Death at the Mansion
Bloody Reunion
Halloween Havoc
Death at Dark Lake
Death Metal Mayhem
Stage Crew
Director
Mr. M. Burnham
2006-2007
2006-2007
2007-2008
2007-2008
2007-2008
Costume Designer
Mrs. J. Gomes
Stage/Prop Manager
Mr. J. Eagles
Construction
Mr. P. Daley
Mr. D. Daley
Mr. L. Daley
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
2007-2008
Curse of the Burmese Idol
2008-2009
Programme Design
Programme Front Cover Artwork
Mr. J. Eagles
Reine Tejares
Make-Up
Nancy Jona
Stage /Audio Crew
Julie Boulos
Mary Boulos
Jason Deeck
Brianne Ghaney
Janelle Hemerding-Campbell
Aimee Hu
Marisa Myers
Michelle Philip
Julia Raftery
Cassie Savini
Diana Tang
Reine Tejares
Sydney Williams
Lauren Witteman
A Streetcar Named Desire
2008-2009
Antigone (Sophocles & Jean Anouilh) 2009-2010
Whiskey Stop
Real World: Gone’Zaga
2009-2010
2009-2010
Harvey
2010-2011
It’s not a rash...I’m a Zombie!
2010-2011
Macbeth
2011-2012
Well I'll be Gotterdammerunged...
A Tale of Vikings and Monsters
2011-2012
We hope to see you at the Gonzaga
Players next performance of
Thornton Wilder’s Our Town
April 9th—13th
A special thanks to the Gonzaga Prefects as our Theatre Ushers for this week’s
performances.
Scotiabank:
Proud Supporter of the Gonzaga Players
Scene Membership Card
Scene Membership Card
and Scene Scotiabank
Card
Scene Membership Card
and Scene Visa Card
Name: Zara Diab
Grade: 12
I have been a Gonzaga Player for four years and I feel
like it is one of my greatest experiences. To be a
Gonzaga Player is to be a part of a family. This family
has helped me grow so much as a person, and I will
never forget what I have learned from all my experiences as a Gonzaga Player. I have gained so much,
and will forever have the wonderful memories to remind me. I will miss all
my fellow cast members dearly, as well as the teachers who put their time
and effort into the creation of this play: Mr. Burnham, Mr. Eagles, and Mrs.
Gomes.
Name: Ordren Deko
Grade: 9
The Gonzaga Players creates memories. I enjoyed
working with such a dedicated group, who made all
of our rehearsals a lot of fun. It is such a gift to
work with people who enjoy drama as much as I do.
Even though this is my first experience with the
Gonzaga Players, I have adapted to the process and have become familiar
with all the great teachers who helped us along our journey. The cast is full
of talented people who have brought Ibsen’s characters to life. I know the
passion and hard work will be visible in our performance. I hope that I will
continue my drama career at Gonzaga. Enjoy!
Special thanks to Herat Carpets for providing the carpets for
this production of A Doll’s House.
http://www.scotiabank.ca
YOU ARE RICHER
THAN YOU THINK
Attention all Gonzaga Students
Bring your Scotiabank Scene card to any
of the Gonzaga Player
Performances and receive 10 House
Points.
YOU ARE RICHER
THAN YOU THINK
Name: Justin Nahhas
Grade: 12
The time I’ve spent preparing for my role in A Doll’s
House has been nothing short of amazing. Bringing
our characters to life was only a small piece of this
puzzle we call Gonzaga Players. The atmosphere
and people I was fortunate enough to be around
have made this experience one to remember. It’s my first year with Gonzaga Players, and after this journey I ask myself why I didn’t join earlier. At
the end of the day the best feeling is seeing all the hard work we’ve put
into this pay off, and I thank you all for being part of the experience with
us.
Name: Maria Christopoulos
Grade: 12
Being a Gonzaga Player has been one of the best
decisions I’ve made in high school. This has been
my second year in a production and I am so honoured that I was given the chance to play the role of
Nora. The cast of A Doll’s House is a group of amazing students who I’ve been really lucky to become friends with. I’m grateful
that I am able to spend my last year as a Gonzaga Player with such great
friends, as well of the support I receive from the wonderful teachers who
help make this play happen: Mr. Eagles, Mrs. Gomes, and my favourite
drama teacher, Mr. Burnham.
Name: Lyla Abbas
Grade: 12
I’ve had an unforgettable time with the Gonzaga Players
this year. Auditioning for the play has to have been the
best decision I’ve made in high school—from the incredible people to the irreplaceable memories, these four
years of drama have shaped me into who I am today. I would never trade the
hours of rehearsals, the fabulous costumes, or the laughter shared together for
anything in the world. Thank you always to the talented cast, Mr. Burnham for his
confidence and guidance, and to Ms. Gomes and Mr. Eagles for their endless support. I hope you enjoy watching A Doll’s House as much as I did being a part of it.
Break a leg, Players!
Name: Cole Bisson
Grade: 12
This is my first time working with Gonzaga Players and it has been an incredible experience. I
wouldn’t trade the many hours of rehearsal for
anything in the world. Our small cast was able to
bond during these hours and we were able to bring these characters
to life. I hope all of you enjoy this play as much as we did preparing
it for all of you!
Name: Cameron Smith
Grade: 12
My experience with the Gonzaga players has always been an amazing one. Last year was my
first production and it was a terrific experience.
This year has been different largely because of
the smaller cast of A Doll’s House allowed the entire cast to become very
close. As Dr. Rank, I find myself playing a character similar to myself.
Rank is a caring and calm individual who maybe is a bit of pessimist, but
people seem to enjoy his presence anyways. I hope everyone enjoys the
play! I had so much fun preparing it for everyone!
Name: Ivana Sarmiento-Uribe
Grade: 11
From my first year at Gonzaga, I knew that I wanted to
participate in a school play. Being on stage with other
great actors and learning how to put myself in someone
else’s shoes was something I always looked forward to
doing. This is my first experience with Gonzaga Players
and I have had so much fun being a part of this amazing cast. The people I’ve
worked with, the things I learned about acting, and about my character AnneMarie… the experience was incredible. I hope that everyone watching will feel
the same.