The Power to Choose

The Lady from the Sea – Court Theatre

Court Theatre’s new production of Henrik Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea was originally set to premier in March of 2020, before having to shut down the night of their first preview. The cast and creative team have all returned to stage the show now, but rather than simply running their lines in the meantime, the Court commissioned a new translation by Richard Nelson. The show is one of Ibsen’s lesser produced shows, but to anyone who has seen his more famous A Doll’s House will certainly find a few similarities. The story centers on Ellida, wife to Dr. Wangel, and stepmother to his two daughters. Ellida is unhappy and anxious, and Dr. Wangel, despite his best and genuine efforts, cannot figure out why. The reason is a man from Ellida’s past, a mysterious sailor whose return has been looming over her for years. Now Ellida must choose between them.

Chaon Cross returns to the Court as Ellida, the housewife and stepmother at the heart of the story. Cross previously appeared at the Court in Proof as Catherine and Rosalind Franklin in Photograph 51. I also remember her from Greenhouse Theatre’s absolutely delightful Midsummer a few years ago. She was amazing in all those roles, and is so again here. The show is more symbolic than literal about Ellida’s life and choices, and that leaves it to the actress to imbue those struggles with real life. Cross does so masterfully in a way that I’m certain took great effort, but did not look like it.

Another standout for me was Tanya Thai McBride as Bolette, Dr. Wangel’s older daughter from his first marriage. Like her stepmother, she is trapped in a world that robs her of choices because of her gender and McBride handles the mix and fear and outrage very well.

The stage, designed by Andrew Boyce, is covered in sand to mimic a rocky, isolated beach, and all the action, indoors and out, takes place there. The staging also takes advantage of some beautiful effects work that I won’t spoil for you here. In scene transitions, the cast, choregraphed by Erika Chong Shuch, perform dances that seem to embody being pulled under by the current. The combined effect is a heightened, dreamlike state that take the show out of a specific place and time. Visually, the show is by turns intriguing and haunting.

That said, that could be something of a mixed blessing for the show overall. While I enjoy a moody, contemplative piece as much as an anyone, I do think the nature of the story and the dreamlike staging do cause a bit of a pacing problem in the first act. Once all the crises and misunderstandings come to a head in the second act, the show hums along just fine. But even then, the core conflict of the show, Ellida’s role in deciding her own fate, still feels a little distant. Whatever the audience in the late 1800s may have felt about the institution of marriage, the modern audience (one hopes) is almost certainly on board with Ellida having agency over her life. And while I won’t say the early 21st century is perfect on this point, at the least the idea doesn’t feel revolutionary as it might have then.

Still, the combined result of some interesting, if occasionally dense, material and a truly top notch cast made me more than glad that Court Theatre didn’t leave this show orphaned in the pandemic shutdown.

Recommended

Reviewed by Kevin Curran

Presented February 25 – March 7 by Court Theatre at 5535 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the box office, by calling 773-753-4472 or by visiting www.courttheatre.org.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found at www.theatreinchicago.com.