Ibsen: A Doll's House - Egil Tornqvist

This 1995 critical study of Ibsen's A Doll's House addresses fundamental questions of text, reception and performance. What is the definitive 'version' of A Doll's House: original text, translation, stage presentation, radio version, adaptation to film or television? What occurs when a drama intended for recipients in one language is translated into another, or when a play written for the stage is adapted for radio, television or film? And to what extent do differences between the media and between directorial approaches influence the meaning of the play text? Discussions of these issues include an internal analysis of the dramatic text and comparative performance analysis, framed by the biographical background to the play and its impact on dramas by Strindberg, Shaw and O'Neill and on films by Ingmar Bergman. The book concludes with a list of productions and a select bibliography.

"...a great deal of fascinating and informative material..."
Essays in Theatre

"Trnqvist's analysis of the play's text...is generally sound and especially good on the play's structure."
Joan Templeton, Scandinavian Studies

"Tornqvist has written a book thatis accessible and valuable to theatre practitioners as well as scholars. It is at once a reference work and a guide-book. Tornqvist is at his best when he provides detailed analysis of the various treatments given to particular moments and scenes from the text.
This book intelligently and thoroughly explores A Doll's House and scenes from the text.
This book intelligently and thoroughly explores A Doll's House as a performance text by examining mulitlple approaches given to the text in performance."
Michael Schurter, Theatre Studies