A play which caused outrage on its premiere inspired a moving season opener at Loughborough College this week.
Performing Arts students presented scenes from Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House -more than 130 years after its publication and move to the stage sparked controversy for questioning the traditional roles of women and men.
With a cast including both new and more established young Loughborough College actors, the audience in the College's Arts Academy theatre was captivated by the 19th century tale of a woman who turns her back on her marriage and her children.
“For some of our students it was the first time they had been on stage and they were tackling extremely complex characters and themes but the entire cast was outstanding,” said Creative Arts Lead Emma Ledsam.
“It was a real challenge, right down to capturing the correct posture and body language for the era – there was a lot of walking with books on heads!
“Ibsen was a pioneer of Naturalism, which aims to depict real life, so we kept the staging and the lighting really simple because the focus was on the detail of the relationships, the subtext of what we’re seeing and the subtleties of the characters and how they shift.
“Our first years proved themselves to be a mighty group and everyone had already climbed a mountain by the time they got onstage – but every single actor really brought it.
“They sustained their characters perfectly and their performances were intense and compelling – the audience was captivated from beginning to end.”