Other Times, Other Morals
‘TBE potted version of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House in 2ZB’s Playhouse of Favourites preserved all the drama of its original while completely sacrificing its subtlety, so that at times it was hortribly reminiscent of the Olde Time Theaytre. ("If I am to be dragged down to the gutter I shall take care to drag you down with me" snarls villain Krogstad to heroine Nora.) And lacking the Ibsen patina the bare bones of the plot had the brittle chalkiness of age. It was clearly revealed that A Doll’s House is, by modern standards, outmoded. For Torvald’s moral indignation at Nora’s venal sin seems to the loosely-moralled present-day listener out of all proportion. Nora was beautifully played by Muriel Steinbeck, Christina even more beautifully by a person unknown. The men, however, were less deserving of verbal bouquets. Torvald’s sliminess, viscous from the beginning, robbed his final downfall of any surprise value it may have had, and Nils Krogstad was played in his more villainous phases with so much gusto that the listener was convinced that that nice girl Christina had, in offering him her heart and hand, gone further than a wise girl would.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19480305.2.24.1
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 454, 5 March 1948, Page 12
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197Other Times, Other Morals New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 454, 5 March 1948, Page 12
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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