This book addresses a deceptively simple question: what accounts for the global success of A Doll¿s House, Henrik Ibsen¿s most popular play? Using maps, networks, and images to explore the world history of the play¿s production, this question is considered from two angles: cultural transmission and adaptation. Analysing the play¿s transmission reveals the social, economic, and political forces that have secured its place in the canon of world drama; a comparative study of the play¿s 135-year production history across five continents offers new insights into theatrical adaptation. Key areas of research include the global tours of nineteenth-century actress-managers, Norway¿s soft diplomacy in promoting gender equality, representations of the female performing body, and the sexual vectors of social change in theatre.

Introduction.- Part I. Cultural Transmission.- Chapter 1. Mapping the Early Noras.- Chapter 2. 'Peddling' Et dukkehjem.- Part II. Adaptation.- Chapter 3. Adaptation at a Distance.- Chapter 4. Ibsen's Challenge.- Conclusion.- Bibliography.

Led by Professor Julie Holledge (Centre for Ibsen Studies, University of Oslo), this collaborative project brings together Ibsen specialists with scholars in digital humanities and theatre studies: Dr Jonathan Bollen (University of New South Wales, Australia), Director of 
AusStage
, the Australian database for researching performance (2006-13); Professor Frode Helland, (Director of the Centre for Ibsen Studies, University of Oslo, Norway), author of 
Ibsen in Practice
 (2015); and Professor Joanne Tompkins (University of Queensland, Australia), author of 
Theatre's Heterotopias
 (2014), and co-author with Holledge of 
Women's Intercultural Performance
 (2001), winner of the Rob Jordan Book Prize.