There’s no avoiding Laura Kieler as she bursts into the auditorium at The Schwarzman Centre shouting: “It’s been 150 years and it’s time to set the balance straight” interrupting Ibsen’s appraisal of his life’s works as she bounds on stage to confront him.
Laura is on a mission as she fends off the publicists and security, determined to say her piece and get justice, for her story to be told.
we were gripped, disconcerted, offended and entertained, despite the uncomfortable revelations
And that’s exactly what Breach Theatre ensures in the world premiere of Burning Down The House, to put Laura centre stage and convince Henrik Ibsen of his duplicity. READ ABOUT HOW BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE CAME ABOUT HERE
In so doing, Laura takes us back to when the two writers meet. Ibsen admires the young woman’s ambition and tenacity, and she is soon part of their literary circle, a close friendship with his wife Suzannah ensuing.
‘A fascinating, courageous and deft examination of Ibsen’s past’
But then Laura’s life takes a turn for the worse. She takes out an illegal loan to cover her husband Torvald’s medical expenses and falls into debt. Her writing takes a backseat to her pregnancies and endless debt collectors’ demands, and she begins unravelling, the pressure and secrecy having a detrimental effect on her mental health, as she spirals out of control.
Ibsen refuses to help, and instead coerces her into confessing to Torvald, who is furious and has her committed to an asylum, all of which Breach deftly delivers with alacrity and zest, the oppressive atmosphere ever present with its modernist soundscapes, deliberately bright sets and costumes, domestic violence simmering away in the background. Childbirth, madness, pressure and helplessness all play their part, while Ibsen sits impassively by.
The acting is just as vibrant, Jacoba Williams‘ defiant Laura impossible to ignore, Sophie Steer‘s extrovert Suzannah at odds with her taciturn and slightly chilling husband played by Peter Clements, as the cast multi-role brilliantly to embellish the story in full.
When Ibsen revisits Laura’s misfortunes in his most famous play A Doll’s House, thus washing her dirty linen in public over and over again over the centuries, without permission, there is no going back.
Where do you draw the line as an artist in terms of your inspiration. Is anything sacred or is it all fair game, fuel for the literary fire? And what of the consequences?
Despite the terrible revelations, Laura is more upset that Nora is nothing like her – Laura’s fierce, independent, confrontational, courageous persona replaced with a spoilt, obedient, child-like naivety in A Doll’s House,’ I am not Nora’ being her lifelong mantra.
While Ibsen and Laura batter away at each other, Breach enacts A Doll’s House around them, the contrast between Laura and Nora so self-evident it needs little explanation.
Ibsen has nowhere to hide as Laura lists his misdemeanours while demonstrating their visceral consequences, Ibsen firing back that he is ‘a dramatist not a documentarian’.
‘he who is silent consents,’ sends a chill down our spines for its timeliness
Which begs a question around breaches of confidentiality, friendship and art, that Breach seize and run with. Where do you draw the line as an artist in terms of your inspiration. Is anything sacred or is it all fair game, fuel for the literary fire? And what of the consequences? “Art comes from life,” Ibsen roars in his defence.
Laura is thus collateral damage. She is sacrificed for his art with no recompense either financially or publicly. Laura was an anomaly and she made some bad choices. So who is at fault? The accusation “he who is silent consents,” sending a chill down our spines for its timeliness.
As for the audience, we were gripped, disconcerted, offended and entertained throughout the straight 80 minutes, despite the uncomfortable revelations and subject matter.
Breach has succeeded in bringing Laura Kieler kicking and screaming into the 21st century
Five years in the making, Breach couldn’t afford to falter. Instead it has succeeded in bringing Laura Kieler kicking and screaming into the 21st century in such a seismic and impressionable way that she can never be ignored again.
A fascinating, courageous and deft examination of Ibsen’s past, Burning Down The House is an important and impressive debut.
Burning Down The House runs at The Schwarzman Centre until October 10 with lots of wraparound events. Go to BOOK HERE
