After an eight-month hiatus caused by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maitland Repertory Theatre will return with a production of the Ibsen classic A Doll’s House.
Theatre secretary Ian Robinson said it was “brilliant” that a young and enthusiastic team was bringing community theatre back to Maitland.
He said the theatre typically puts on five or six shows a year, with up to 60 performances annually.
“The lockdown coincided with our last performance of Mr Melancholy in the middle of March,” Mr Robinson.
“Community theatre is very important to Maitland [and] our older audience is [particularly] excited to be coming along.”
Written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in 1879, the play follows the journey of Nora as she navigates the unravelling of her family dynamic.
Upon its initial release, A Doll’s House was and was highly controversial, but the play was included by UNESCO in 2001 in the Memory of the World Register.
The theatre also hosts acting classes and has a youth theatre group that has met virtually to rehearse a performance of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
The production of A Doll’s House will be done on a round, meaning that the audience will surround the stage.
Mr Robinson commented that the time without productions during the pandemic had enabled the theatre to conduct essential maintenance.
“The dressing room, where the actors spend most of their time, has had a complete makeover,” he said.
“[Normally we’re] so busy, there’s not much of the time for detailed fixes.”
He added that, due to the absence of performances in 2020, the theatre is extending season tickets from 2020 into 2021.
“Anybody who bought a season ticket [in 2020], we’re letting them see A Doll’s House, and four out of five of the shows next year,” he said.
“We felt we had to give people something, it’s better to be generous than not.”
Opening night is on Wednesday 9 December, with the eighth and final show on Saturday 19 December.
Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for concessions, and are available online at the Maitland Repertory Theatre’s website, or by calling 0466 332 766.
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