Review: Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House, Part 2 Sputters When It Should Sparkle

Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House, Part 2 is a modern take on the constraints of marriage and how little society’s attitudes toward the institution have changed. Nora (Elizabeth Reaser) has returned to the door she slammed shut 15 years previously at the climax of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Despite being trapped in a man’s world, Nora has achieved success as a novelist, yet she’s still shackled to her husband, Torvald (Jason Butler Harner), with whom she pleads for the divorce she thought had gone through ages ago. She uses her former nanny (Kimberly Scott) and even the daughter she barely knows (Kahyun Kim) to free herself once and for all.

Hnath’s Nora might seem self-centered, but her choices are limited by the misogynistic laws of the land. Torvald, on the other hand, has been what society deems a model husband; however, though he’s ostensibly kind, he has always treated Nora like property. The arguments captured in Hnath’s play reveal characters trapped by a society that desperately needs to evolve, and neither character comes off as a hero or villain.

Jennifer Chang’s interpretation of Hnath’s play is puzzling. The dialogue crackles on its own, yet Chang adds unnecessary modern touches, like a violin version of the White Stripes song “Seven Nation Army” (sound by John Nobori) and modern tennis shoes (costumes by Anthony Tran). But the play does a great job of tying the story to modern times on its own, so these additions feel excessive.

Chang’s direction of the cast does too. Reaser enters with melodramatic haughtiness and frequently steps outside her character to comment on Nora. Kim, as the abandoned daughter, emerges with a little girl voice and undercuts her character’s maturity and awareness in her opening moments. Scott, who gives empathy to the woman who practically raised every other character, appears off-center at this performance, tripping over her lines often. Only Harner digs into his role and conveys his character’s confusion at his predicament. In modern times, his Torvald could have recognized his wife’s unhappiness.

Wilson Chin’s abstract set of the crumbling home creates a theater-in-the round by seating some audience members above the stage. Tran’s costumes appear ornate, with interesting designs, but the material itself looks cheap so it’s unclear how much we should believe in Nora’s success. A Doll’s House, Part 2 is a rich, complex play that expands Ibsen’s characters, but the missteps in this latest production douse the flame in Hnath’s fiery text.