Sophia Cleary

A Doll's House

An experimental documentary about theater and the family system.

A Doll's House is an experimental documentary short that follows two actors as they reflect on their past roles as husband and wife in Henrik Ibsen's feminist play, A Doll's House. For this documentary short, they revisit their old scripts and work through the sensation of getting back into character. As husband and wife off-stage, as well as parents of the filmmaker, the couple navigates the unique position of being directed by their child. As mother, father, and daughter, they explore the theater's impact on their family system.

Q&A

Fellowship Cohort: Fall 2024

Why did you choose this project?
The original project I proposed for Suraj didn't work out because of casting issues. So I decided to work on something more close to home, literally, and close to my heart about my family. This project is for my MFA thesis.

How was this fellowship meaningful or impactful to you?

The fellowship has allowed me to cover expenses for new equipment crucial for sound recording and home/mobile editing while I travel for recording my subjects.

Have you showcased this work in any other ways or places? Do you have any future plans related to this work? 
No.

Sophia Cleary is an interdisciplinary artist focused on performance and liveness. Making her work through the lens of the fool, or trickster, Sophia uses play as a method and critical position to engage her audience in a system where power dynamics necessarily shift. Drawing upon her life experience as a birth doula, waiter, standup comedian, and analyst for a private investigator, Sophia explores the nature of relationships, vulnerability, and authenticity. In her live performance work, she focuses on the space between performer and audience as an aperture that restricts or expands and uses humor as a lubricant to mirror, respond to, or disrupt the status quo. In her current work, Sophia teases out the theatricality embedded in disciplinary systems that control and condition the body. From readymades to monologues, she addresses the stakes of live performance and lays bare its attending contracts and procedures.