A Doll’s House-Henrich Ibsen

Visual/Aural/Spatial

Creating still images, and thought-tracking we showed how the relationship between Nora and the rest of the characters changed throughout the play. One person played Nora and the others played the rest of the cast. We did not feel we needed to individualise each member of the cast, and we created a choral family, because Gregor's problem put a strain on all of them. We put Gregor in the centre because in the beginning Gregor was the centre of the family's living, providing for them, and we wanted the audience to see this.

Our proxemics were close as we gathered around Gregor. We leaned in because we wanted him to give us more. In unison we said ‘Gregor, you're so good to us'. Our voices were full of love; we wanted Gregor to know he was good to us and we wanted the audience to hear it. We chose the line because it showed the appreciation the family initially has for Gregor, although it may have been about his money.

The next still contrasted the first. Our transition was sharp as we moved backwards, so we could look down on Gregor. Gregor's body became crouched and low status and he physically shut tried to shut out his family who now seemed to see him as a burden. We all spread out onstage to show the distance between the family who once appeared close and the change in levels, Gregor now low and the family high showed the audience how much had changed since

Gregor turned into a beetle. To the audience it looked like we were ganging up on Gregor. The chosen line was 'Maybe he should know…how we're suffering on his account.' We spitefully spat our words, and emphasised 'suffering' so the audience could hear the change in our attitudes because Gregor could no longer provide.

It initially appeared that the family loved Gregor but by the end of the practical I learnt that it had never been love, the family only praised Gregor because of the money he made and the things he bought them. I now understand that the text displays a family that did...