‘A Doll’s House, Part 2’
By Harry Duke
Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House premiered in 1879 to great controversy. His look at the limitations and restrictions placed on women in a patriarchal society was considered quite scandalous at the time. Many consider it to be the beginning of modern feminist literature, though Ibsen himself denied that. Suffice it to say that a play that ended with a wife and mother walking out on her family (cue door slam) was not the norm.
Not content to let the sound of a slamming door be the last “word,” playwright Lucas Hnath picks up the story of Nora and Torvald 15 years later with A Doll’s House, Part 2. The Novato Theater Company has a production running through June 12.
It’s now 1894, and the stately silence of the Helmer household is interrupted by a knock at the door. Nanny-turned-housekeeper Anne Marie (Shirley Nilsen Hall) opens the door and admits Nora (Alison Peltz) into the household she abandoned long ago. Nora has spent the last 15 years living an independent life as a successful writer. Her latest book challenges the very concept of marriage, much to the consternation of the powerful men whose wives have walked out on them after reading it. Under a threat of blackmail, Nora is shocked to discover that she is still married as Torvald (Mark Clark) never filed for divorce. She seeks to enlist the aid of Anne Marie and eventually her own daughter Elly (Jannely Calmell) to convince Torvald to file. He has his own ideas.
You don’t need to be familiar with the Ibsen original to get this show, and folks fearing a stuffy 19th-century Norwegian drama will be presently surprised to find that Hnath has taken a very modern approach to the material. The dialogue is peppered with expletives and the humor is sharp and pointed, but the essence of Ibsen remains.
Energetically directed by Gillian Eichenberger, the show zips along and packs a lot in its 85 intermission-less minutes. Each character gets their moment, and each performer delivers their moment with verve. Peltz in particular does a nice job of balancing Nora’s ambitions with her imperfections.
By show’s end, we still don’t know what lies ahead for Nora. Maybe in another 138 years…
‘A Doll’s House, Part 2’ runs through June 12 at the Novato Theater Company, 5420 Nave Drive, Ste. C, Novato. Fri & Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $12–$27. 415.883.4498. Proof of vaccination and masking are required to attend. novatotheatercompany.org
