Ronik Rana

Projects

A Doll’s House

Writer: Tanika Gupta

Design: Set & costume design
Type: Conceptual
Year: 2023
Location: Lyric Hammersmith
For: UAL (Wimbledon College of Art)

“Tanika Gupta transposes the setting of Ibsen’s classic play to India in 1879 where ‘Nora’, now Niru, is an Indian woman married to ‘Torvald’, now Tom, an English man working for the British Colonial Administration in Calcutta. Niru risks her own reputation in order to save her husband’s and in the process discovers herself. This new version of A Doll’s House takes a fresh look at the play shining a light on British colonial history and race relations as well as gender politics and class.”

The Concept
The British colonisation of India is explored in Tanika Gutpa’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”. In my design, the house of Niru and Tom is symbolic. The stage is covered by walls of mud and dirt that reveal themselves to be a cage-like structure underneath, representing British rule and the stage on which the actors converse represents Indian soil. A small opening in the ceiling allows for flying scenery while representing hope–that one day this cage will break apart. Two mechanised doors on either side of the stage enable actors to enter/exit and small furniture to track in and out. At the end of the play, when Niru leaves Tom, the house begins to slowly rise revealing the backstage and the fourth wall is broken.

Select Storyboard

Costume Designs

Acknowledgements

http://www.tanikagupta.com/a-dolls-house/

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