Interview: Elizabeth Reaser and Jason Butler Harner Play an Ibsen Couple With a Twist in A Doll’s House, Part 2

Friends for over three decades, Elizabeth Reaser and Jason Butler Harner are finally getting the opportunity to act onstage together. In Lucas Hnath’s 2017 play A Doll’s House, Part 2 (a sequel to Henrik Ibsen’s landmark drama), they’re portraying married couple Nora and Torvald at the Pasadena Playhouse.

TheaterMania recently spoke to these two talented actors about this collaboration, the struggles of their characters, what they love most about the play, and how they expect audiences to react to it.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

How did this production come about for both of you?
Elizabeth Reaser: Luckily, it was an offer. I don’t even know how to audition. Honestly, it came out of nowhere.

Jason Butler Harner: It came about for me because our director Jennifer Chang had assisted on Bernhardt/Hamlet, which I did on Broadway. I had been looking to do a play for a long time—theater is my home and I needed a workout—and she asked me to do this. I also had been talking to [artistic director] Danny Feldman to see what I could do to help the Pasadena Playhouse, so this is a win-win. I have been juggling arcs on a bunch of TV shows, but I couldn’t turn this down.

Is it true you two have known each other for decades?
Elizabeth: Yes, we have known each other for 30 years. I was at Juilliard, and he was at NYU, and the schools used to play softball against each other in Central Park, and I remember meeting him on the field. I am so happy to be finally working with him because he’s so hilarious and such a great actor. What I love is when I look into his eyes, he’s so present and knows everything that is going on.

Did either of you see the Broadway production of this play?
Elizabeth: Sadly, I didn’t see this play on Broadway, but I know how good Laurie Metcalf was as Nora. However, I did see Janet McTeer in that 1997 Broadway production of A Doll’s House, and it’s still a performance that all my friends reference. I was in drama school at the time, so we sat in the nosebleeds. Yet we were still gobsmacked by what she did. I don’t think I fully got the play, but I definitely got her—she was so lit up.

Jason: I did see A Doll’s House, Part 2 in New York, with both casts, all of whom were powerhouse actors. But even when I watched it the first time, I couldn’t help imagining other productions. I think regional theater is trying to figure out what to do now, and I am glad places like the Pasadena Playhouse are taking such big swings. My biggest fear is that in Los Angeles, people won’t know it’s a comedy, so if they do come, they won’t know they can laugh. Or worse yet, they just won’t come because they think it’s a boring drama.

Elizabeth: It is so interesting as an actor to be able to be so funny one moment and then say something dark and shocking the next. In most plays, you don’t necessarily get to do both. Here, Lucas’s language directs you to play it this way.

Elizabeth, you’ve only been married for about a year. How did that factor into your decision to accept this role?
Elizabeth: Because I got married so late in life, I agree with everything Nora says in this play about the institution of marriage. For a long time, I didn’t want to get married, because I knew I would get divorced. Only as a real adult who finally knows herself, could I finally get married. So no, the play does not feel threatening to my marriage. In fact, now I love the idea that if you’re the kind of person who says marriage is the problem, you probably already had one.

Even though this play—as well as the original A Doll’s House—takes place over 100 years ago, do your characters’ struggles feel relevant to you?
Elizabeth: Yes. Nora has this dream of freedom she believes in and desperately needs—even involuntarily—and she can’t stop herself from pursuing it. I love that there’s this non-negotiable thing inside her and that her actions are not a choice. Ultimately, I am fine with the idea that some people will think she’s horrible—even that she’s a bitch. Others will respect her for her decisions, in both plays, and think she did the right thing. I am looking forward to all the reactions.

Jason: I think Torvald is just a man of his time. He’s a misogynist and I never pull a punch on the complexities of any character I play. I believe they did love each other when they first got married and we get clues here that it’s been a long recovery for him since Nora left. It’s 15 years after the original when this play takes place, and there are still these arguments they don’t want to have but they get sucked into. It’s hard work to love someone and allow both yourself and the other person to grow. And Torvald still doesn’t understand some things, like how Nora was able to leave their child. What I love most about the play is that audiences will see both their points as well as their differences. Like Elizabeth, I am so intrigued to see how audiences react. Lucas says he’s most interested in the conversations that take place in the car ride home, not the ones that happen in the theater.