Review of ‘A Doll’s House Part 2,’ staged by the Novato Theater Company

May 19-June 12, 2022

Running Time approx 90 minutes with NO INTERMISSION
Show contains strong language. Parental Guidance is advised.

There is much to commend about this tight production of ‘A Doll’s House Part 2.’ Strong, emotionally charged performances, (and a lot of lines to remember), all beautifully delivered, with a simple but elegant set.

Confession time here, I haven’t seen or read Henrik Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’, so the great litmus test for me is does this sequel stand up as a play in and of itself?

‘A Doll’s House Part 2,’ was written in 2017, by Lucas Hnath and introduces us to Nora, apparently where Henrik Ibsen’s original play, written in 1879, left off. The action focuses on the emotional fallout created after Nora abandons her husband and young family to find herself, but has to return fifteen years later to gain legal papers to prove her divorce.

The story was succinct, and delivered in one 90 minute sitting without an intermission. It addressed women’s rights directly, no allegory here, just straight facts about the restrictive norms and conformist expectations that forced 19th century women unquestioningly into marriage and motherhood. We learn why Nora had to leave, what happened to her, and why and how her husband Torvald suffered over the years.

The original Doll’s House dealt a controversial blow. At the time it premiered, the idea of a woman leaving her family was unthinkable. Nora was a symbol of possibility in that she escaped. In the sequel, Nora has become a financially independent author of feminist literature. Her now nearly adult daughter bears her no animosity for her desertion, this is more her husband and maid’s grudge. We never meet the older children who, according to her daughter, were purportedly hurt the most following their mother’s abandonment. By examining how the children suffered in more detail, the play had the potential to examine valuable under explored emotional and still controversial territory, but turned away from it.

The play references it’s recent origins when Nora argues ‘one day women will do this all the time.’ Perhaps the inference here is for us to consider whether women today really can and do desert their families to realize themselves and to question if we still, (men included), continue to be pressured into the social norm of marriage. It’s an indistinct parallel to try and draw. The reason women still rarely desert their families, is largely because the links between child abandonment and trauma today are very clear. The issues women currently face are more centered around how much they can work away from home without giving their young children abandonment issues. It’s true that women still often do take a hit juggling work and family. It’s hard for them to become financially independent, due to expectations over division of labor, and let’s not forget equal pay, but these parallels weren’t as fully drawn in the play as they could have been. (I won’t even go into the fact that in 2022, the chances of becoming independently wealthy by writing women’s literature in a market flooded with competition are laughably low, Nora struck it lucky for sure. The modern Nora would do well to avoid a career in writing if it’s financial wealth she’s after).

Whether or not you want a family is now a choice we currently have much more freedom around, although, admittedly, with Roe vs Wade in jeopardy, that freedom faces the danger of erosion. However, that apart, I felt that the issues ‘A Dolls House Part 2’ raises don’t effectively draw concrete latter day parallels, despite trying. This may have been the point, but I didn’t feel the playwright communicated this effectively enough. The story may have a wider appeal to an audience already familiar with Ibsen’s original play, and who are, therefore, more invested in his original characters.

Director, Gillian Eichenberger, did a great job of ensuring the inherent emotion and drama in the play was delivered to the audience. Alison Peltz as Nora extracted sympathy from a potentially very unsympathetic character. Mark Clark, as the jilted husband Torvald, also elicited great compassion. Shirley Nielson Hall as Anne Marie and Jannely Calmell as Emmy, were strong supports. The play was highly watchable, although I do feel that the playwright, didn’t realize this sequel as fully as he might have, and that the inherent conflict and subject matter could have been more compelling, groundbreaking and relevant.

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Review by Hannah Yurke