A Doll’s House

by Henrik Ibsen
Adapted by Frank McGuinness

Directed by Katie Wickert

Show Dates and Times: January 19-28, 2024
Fridays and Saturdays: 7:30pm
Sundays: 2:00pm

Open Call: Please attend one of the following,
Sunday, December 3rd, 4-6pm
Monday, December 4th, 6-8pm
Callbacks will be held on Tuesday, December 5th at 6pm if necessary.
· Actors needed at callbacks will be notified following the second round of auditions. Actors called back will be given additional sides to work on.

Location: Meadville Community Theatre (400 N. Main Street, Meadville, PA). Please enter through the front door and wait in the main lobby.

Audition details:

· Actors of all ethnicities are encouraged to audition. All roles are available. Ages listed are “stage ages” so older/younger performers will be considered.

· Adults: Please prepare a one minute off-book monologue. You will also be asked to read one or two short sides from the script.

· Children: Young actors, ages 6-14, please bring a short poem, nursery rhyme or song (memorized); children will also be asked to read from a brief side.

· Read-through will be held on Thursday, December 7th at 6:00pm at MCT.

· Please have a complete list of conflicts from December 7th through performances with you at your audition, particularly the dates around the holidays. Please be thorough. Some conflicts can be scheduled around if we know about them ahead of time. Rehearsal schedule will be dependent on the conflicts of the cast.

· If you have any questions not addressed here, please send a message to Director Katie Wickert at kewickert88@gmail.com.

About the Show: 

A story so controversial in its time that party guests were asked not to discuss it for fear of starting a fight, lauded by playwright George Bernard Shaw for challenging societal norms, Henrik Ibsen’s play features Nora Helmer: a woman in the role of a typical housewife, treated like a doll, harboring a secret debt for saving her husband’s life. Her debtor, now an employee to her husband, threatens to reveal her secret to her husband in order to save his own job. Nora finds herself faced with a difficult moral dilemma between the sacred values of her marriage and family versus her independence.

The production spans three Acts and will be set in a more contemporary time of the late 1950’s to early 1960’s.

Character Breakdown:

Nora Helmer: mid 20’s – mid 30’s. Wife to Torvald Helmer, mother to young children. Impetuous, playful, persuasive, but also capable of great strength and courage. Devoted to Helmer; loving, indulgent playmate to her children.

Torvald Helmer: early 30’s – mid 40’s. Husband to Nora; bank manager. Loving and indulgent, to Nora, infatuated with her beauty. Newly promoted; fastidious, patriarchal, concerned with appearances. Minimal engagement with the children.

Dr. Rank: mid 40s – 70’s: longtime friend of Helmer, frequent confidant for and more than a little in love with Nora. A regular houseguest. Ill health, attributed to the excesses of his father.

Kristine Linde: mid 20’s – 30’s. Former friend of Nora, recently returned to town after falling on hard times. Previously married with grown children. Now seeking employment, asking Nora to help her secure a position in Helmer’s bank. Previously spurned Nils Krogstad.

Nils Krogstad: mid 30’s – 40’s: Clerk in Helmer’s bank, and holder of a secret loan which Nora has been paying off, unknown to Helmer. Determined to keep his position in the bank; prepared to expose Nora’s loan if he is let go. Previously pursued Mrs. Linde.

Anne Marie: age 40+: Nanny/governess to the Helmer children; was Nora’s nanny before that. Left her own child in care to undertake Nora’s and her children’s upbringing.

Helene: any age: Maid to Helmer household. Compliant, efficient; perhaps a bit intimidated by Helmer, close to Nora.

The Messenger: any age. Small role, minimal requirements.

Helmer children, Bobby & Ivan: both under age 10: Small roles with minimal requirements.

A DOLL’S HOUSE MCGUINNESS is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com)