Two things are striking about Bruce Jamieson's revival of the Ibsen play that, despite its 19th-century setting and Michael Meyer's ancient but very serviceable translation, always seems startlingly modern. From the start, Jamieson makes it clear that Nora and Torvald's marriage is in deep trouble, and how Nora's real emotional life is in the company of women, most particularly her maid, Helen, who knows the cost of transgressing society's rules and who has been forced to abandon her own child.
In many ways this is an insightful production. It presents Nora in both the worst possible light - silly and deceitful, blithely lying to get herself out of any little hole - and the best: Alice Grace brings enormous sympathy to the role. This is a woman who knows too well that she is only her husband's plaything. Grace suggests a sadness behind the gaiety, a darkness hidden in the light of her eye.
The long narrow space is awkward though, and dissipates the emotional energy of too many exchanges: you can't watch the faces of both actors if they are at either ends of the room. The costumes are very good, but the design looks like that of a school production. The acting is patchy, particularly vocally. Stephen Russell-Bird's Torvald lacks attack and his inflection is monotonous, while Martin Beere's Dr Rank captures the sense of a man forced into the role of court jester to the Helmers, but not the bitterness that lurks beneath. I did like the way, however, that you can't work out whether he is blind to the gaping faults in this marriage or is trying to smooth them over.
It is a decent enough revival, but this is a great play whose relevance - not just to the position of women but also to what constitutes equality within marriage - seems heightened, not dissipated, by the years. Great plays deserve great productions.
· Until Sunday. Box office: 020-8858 9256.
