Sarasota's Asolo Conservatory stages a powerful 'Nora'

In talking about Ingmar Bergman's "Nora," an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 19th-century classic "A Doll's House," Andrei Malaev-Babel said that the title character comes across as stronger than she's usually portrayed in the original, and that her transition into the last scene into a woman who summons the will to reject her husband and abandon her children is not so abrupt.

Malaev-Babel directed the current production of "Nora" for the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training in Sarasota. If he intended to make the change in the title character's personality and attitude less sudden, he missed his target. Although Nora generally seems more confident than the character we know from "A Doll's House," her change in that last scene, one of the most devastating finales in the history of theater, still seems to come out of nowhere.

It doesn't really matter though. "A Doll's House" is one of the greatest plays ever written, and Bergman, who of course was best known

as a film director, effectively distills Ibsen's three-act play, which usually takes more than three hours to stage, into a two-act, two-hour work. Nothing significant seems to be missing and the play is full of power and insight.

Malaev-Babel's staging is elegant and his interpretation is clearly stated. Ibsen's play is widely regarded as a proto-feminist work, and through the whole Asolo production the women characters seem stronger and more admirable than the men. (Torvald, Nora's husband, is a bit more likeable than he is in most productions of "A Dolls' House," but he's still appropriately obtuse and condescending.)

The audience enters the theater with the all the actors already on stage, where they remain throughout. Actors who aren't actively a part of a scene take seats on the edges of the set.

Derek Miller's set, the interior of Nora and Torvald's house, is immediately striking. It's essentially realistic but features elements that recall a medieval convent or even a dungeon. Chris McVicker's lights and Becky Leigh's costumes are both evocative of the era and action.

The acting from the student cast is spotty, though. These are all fine actors -- they're more like pre-professional actors than acting students -- and they've all been impressive in other Asolo Conservatory shows this season.

But directors of these conservatory shows have to pick from just the 12 second-year students, so the plays are seldom perfectly cast.

The best performances here comes from Jessie Taylor in the title role, Mike Perez as Torvald and Rob Glauz as Krogstad, the weasely bank functionary who drives the story to its crisis point by attempting to blackmail Nora.

"A Doll's House" remains a powerful and relevant piece of writing, almost 140 years after it premiered. Bergman's edited version is, if anything, even more powerful than the original, simply because it's more concentrated.

Together with the elegant design work, fluid direction and some fine performance, that makes the FSU/Asolo Conservatory's "Nora" a compelling evening of theater.

Details: Through May 1, Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Show times: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday- Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $14-$29. Information: 941-351-8000, asolorep.org.

Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919. Follow twitter.com/martinclear.

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 7:08 PM with the headline "Sarasota's Asolo Conservatory stages a powerful 'Nora' ."