Tampa Repertory Theatre Presents A DOLL'S HOUSE PART 2 at Stageworks

In the season opener for TampaRep, freedom, choice, and responsibility are on display. Playing four shows a week through Nov 20, 2022 A Doll's House Part 2 by Lucas Hnath will open wide the door to Nora, who famously left her husband and children in the original play by Henrik Ibsen. One doesn't need to know "Part 1" to enjoy this funny and compelling new look at divorce in the modern age.

A special Opening Night celebration will take place on Friday, November 4th, with a pre-show open bar, catered bites, and a meet & greet with the cast and creatives.

This production will be a celebration of top Tampa Bay Artists finally coming together in a relevant and well-crafted sequel to the 1879 play by Ibsen. Award winning playwright Lucas Hnath delves deep into the aftermath of Nora's harrowing decision. She took her future into her own hands during a time when wives were under direct supervision of their husbands. According to TampaRep Producing Artistic Director Emilia Sargent, "The sequel is rife with fast-paced, intelligent humor and thought-provoking questions about gender inequality, marriage, and human rights, as well as the conflicting ideas of personal freedom and responsibility."

Director Stephanie Gularte, former Producing Artistic Director of American Stage in St. Petersburg, has been fascinated by Ibsen's plays for years. So much so that she wrote her own adaptation of A Doll's House, set in the post WWII era. That is why she is excited to encounter A Doll's House Part 2 with all its fresh truths about the realities of committed relationships. "The psychology of the characters is so intelligently crafted - Hnath has keyed into it so well." Gularte sees the characters as human beings being human beings, in all their strengths and weaknesses.

This collaboration has been a long time coming since these artists have been "circling each other for years," says Gularte. She is excited to be directing longtime collaborator L. Peter Callender, the Artistic Director of San Francisco's African-American Shakespeare Company, in the role of Torvald. Additionally, this extraordinary cast includes two other regional arts leaders who also tread the boards as actors. Emilia Sargent will play the famed independent Nora, and Karla Hartley, Artistic Director of Stageworks, will play the trusted nanny, Anne Marie. Rounding out the cast is newcomer Bria Matthews as Nora and Torvald's intelligent daughter, Emmy.

"I am thrilled to be able to bring together this incredible team of artists and creatives for the first time at TampaRep. A Doll's House Part 2 kicks off TampaRep's exciting season exploration of responsibility: social, familial, and individual. The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance will run February 2 - 19, 2023 at HCC Ybor City, followed by Arthur Miller's All My Sons at USF Tampa June 1 - 18, 2023. These plays are a celebration of our capacities, our vulnerabilities, and the challenges of being human - together," says Sargent.

The creative team consists of renowned local artists. Stephanie Gularte will direct, Steve Mitchell designs the set, costumes by Trish Donnelly, lights by Joe Oshry, sound by Matt Cowley, original music composed by Igor Santos, and stage management by Heather Krueger.

The cast of A Doll's House Part 2 includes professional regional actors Emilia Sargent, L. Peter Callender, Karla Hartley, and Bria Matthews.

For this season's first production, TampaRep is thrilled to partner with another esteemed company in the Bay Area's thriving arts scene, Stageworks. The Season Sponsor is The Gobioff Foundation and the Production Sponsor is Frank Taylor. Supporting Sponsors include Hal Freedman & Willi Rudowsky, Alfred T. May, Brian Reale & Fred Wilcox, Andrea Graham, and Chris & Briget Hart. Ticketing Sponsor is Russell Buchan, Opening Night Sponsors are Victor & Sharon Gardner and Hal Freedman & Willi Rudowsky, and the Artist Sponsors are Gail & Bob Hetler, in honor of L. Peter Callender.

As a door slams in 1879 Norway, a young wife and mother leaves behind her family, freeing herself from the shackles of traditional societal constraints. Now, 15 years later, that same door opens to reveal Nora, a changed woman with an incredibly awkward favor to ask the people who she abandoned. Lucas Hnath's bitingly funny sequel to Ibsen's revolutionary masterpiece unfolds in a series of bristling stand-offs that reveal in Nora's world, much like our own, behind every opinion there is a person, and a slamming door isn't just an end, but also the chance for a new beginning.

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