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'A Doll’s House’ at the Donmar Warehouse

Ibsen purists beware: This new revision of the Norwegian classic, by British playwright Zinnie Harris, transforms the domestic melodrama from 19th-centuryNorway to early-20th-century England, where Nora’s husband has been transformed from a banker to a member of the Cabinet. Some local critics have quibbled, but I found the changes clever and resonant: That little "mouse" Nora (Gillian Anderson) — whose desperate attempts to sustain her family after her husband (Toby Stephens) takes ill forces her to take a loan from a unscrupulous man (Christopher Eccleston, of 28 Days Later fame) — here emerges as someone akin to Hillary Clinton, the politician’s wife so accustomed to spinning the truth that she doesn’t realize when the world is collapsing all around her.

But even if you don’t love the changes wrought to the text, it’s hard not to be awed by Anderson, a vastly underrated actress who never got to show what she could do on the long-running The X-Files. She conveys Nora’s steady transformation from delicate flower to slick operator to liberated woman with extraordinary tenderness. And if you’ve never been to the Donmar Warehouse, all the more reason to check out this production: This 250-seat theater, with its modest stage so close that you can reach out and touch the players, makes you feel as if you’re watching classic theater unfold in your living room. Through July 18.

For more information: donmarwarehouse.com

Star-Telegram

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The Stars Are Aligned, and They’re Playing It Big

Gillian Anderson, who made her name as the skeptical and attack-ready Agent Scully in “The X-Files” on television, is now melting hearts as the docile, too-credulous heroine in Ibsen’s “Doll’s House” at the Donmar Warehouse.


Zinnie Harris’s new adaptation of “A Doll’s House” transplants its characters to Edwardian London from Norway and makes the heroine’s husband (Toby Stephens) a cabinet minister instead of a banker. These alterations, aside from summoning contemporary parallels to scandals in British politics, emphasize the melodrama in Ibsen’s story, which is like underlining italics. But Ms. Anderson, who proved herself at ease with an English accent and period costumes in the BBC production of “Bleak House,” cannily hints at the disturbed ripples of doubt beneath a socially imposed facade, and until the play’s final scene (when she becomes so glacially authoritative you get frostbite) she is genuinely moving.

NEW YORK TIMES

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David Duchovny is to renew his wedding vows with wife Tea Leoni.

The couple split last year when The X Files actor was treated for sex addiction, but according to the Daily Express, he is planning a second wedding in November.

A source told the newspaper: "They've been married for 12 years and like most of us have had their ups and downs."

The source added: "But they really want to put the past behind them and renew their vows. They want to draw a line under things and make a fresh start.

"They went through a tough time but have reignited that spark.

"David realises how close he came to losing it all so he especially wants to have their family and closest friends on hand to witness his second chance at happiness."

The couple have two children, Madeline, 10, and Kyd, six.

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