Directed by Tony-winner Sam Gold, a wildly inventive new American play that picks up after Henrik Ibsen's most cherished work concludes, A Doll's House, Part 2 will boast an all-star cast that features three-time Emmy Award-winner and three-time Tony Award-nominee Laurie Metcalf, Academy Award-winner Chris Cooper, Tony Award-winner Jayne Houdyshell and two-time Tony Award-nominee Condola Rashad.
In the final scene of Ibsen's 1879 ground-breaking masterwork, Nora Helmer makes the shocking decision to leave her husband and children, and begin a life on her own. This climactic event - when Nora slams the door on everything in her life - instantly propelled world drama into the modern age. In A Doll's House, Part 2, many years have passed since Nora's exit. Now, there's a knock on that same door. Nora has returned. But why? And what will it mean for those she left behind?
The last show to open on Broadway this season turns out to be the funniest, and the sharpest play of the year, which is a pleasure to report. A Doll's House, Part 2, which opened tonight at the Golden Theatre, is not so much a sequel to Henrik Ibsen's proto-feminist groundbreaker of 1879 as it is a heartfelt meditation on how far we've come in the century and a quarter since. If that sounds more like a master's thesis than a comedy, you need only know that Lucas Hnath's 90-minute quartet contains five S-bombs, four F-bombs and the return of Laurie Metcalf (after the futility of Misery) in full blossom as Ibsen's Nora Helmer, last seen making the most famous stage exit in the canon not involving a bear.
As each character gets their big scene, their name is projected in enormous letters. Each character adds to the conversation about serious subjects - marriage, men and women, freedom, rights, equality. The issues aren't new but presented in intriguing ways. Still, something nags: Since you can't backdate a divorce do Nora's current efforts even matter? That doesn't come up in this production, which plays Nora's situation very much as comedy. Metcalf, a seasoned stage vet who's known for the sitcom 'Roseanne,' can clown with the best of them. Just saying the word 'no,' Metcalf's face is an avalanche of motion.
2017 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2018 | Regional (US) |
Barrington Stage Company Production Regional (US) |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Laurie Metcalf |
2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Jayne Houdyshell |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Laurie Metcalf |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | A Doll's House, Part 2 |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Laurie Metcalf |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Jayne Houdyshell |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | A Doll's House, Part 2 |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | David Zinn |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Sam Gold |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Jennifer Tipton |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Chris Cooper |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Jayne Houdyshell |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Condola Rashad |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Laurie Metcalf |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Lucas Hnath |
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