PLAY REVIEW: Burning Down The House ★★★★
Who owns a story? In an age of contested narratives and artists mining the lives of others, Breach Theatre’s Burning Down the House poses a question that feels increasingly urgent. Written by Ellice Stevens and Billy Barrett, and directed by Barrett, this lively, provocative production gives Laura Kieler, the real-life inspiration behind Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House , the opportunity to reclaim her own narrative. At the heart of the drama is Jacoba Williams, whose performance as Kieler provides the production with its emotional anchor. Williams charts her character’s gradual unravelling with striking conviction, making Laura’s descent into desperation feel painfully human rather than melodramatic. Her defiance is particularly compelling: this is a woman determined to be heard, even as the men around her attempt to control her story. Ellice Stevens provides an intriguing counterpoint as Nora, the fictional heroine whose story threatens to eclipse Laura’s own. The co...
