A Doll's House, St Giles Productions

It’s Christmas, and Nora Helmer has everything a woman is supposed to want: a respectable husband, a comfortable home, three children and a little money to spend. But years ago she did something to save her husband’s life, and she has kept it secret ever since. When someone from her past arrives at the door, the perfect household starts to come apart.

Ibsen’s play caused a scandal in 1879, and it still feels uncomfortably current. Our production takes place in a single room with four doors, so every entrance and every exit matters. Dr Rank plays a live piano on stage throughout, performing an original score by James Pearson. In the intimate Michael Pilch Studio, the audience is close enough to see every lie, every bit of performed happiness, and the moment it all breaks.

Content warnings: references to suicide, emotional abuse and coercive control within a marriage, financial blackmail, terminal illness.