Originally published in Northumberland News

A Doll’s House, Part 2 running until April 6th at the Firehall Theatre in Cobourg is a sequel to Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s groundbreaking and controversial play A Doll’s House. Written in the 19th century Ibsen’s play was a hugely controversial and angry exploration of gender roles, human rights, and the institution of marriage at the time and a denunciation of the legal and social constraints that limited women’s opportunities. A Doll’s House, Part 2 takes the same themes and updates them (sneakily) for our modern times.

A Doll’s House, Part 2 was written in 2017 by Lucas Hnath and picks up the story of three of the main characters from what we’ll call “The First Play” and introduces us to a new character. Here are (roughly) the differences between the two plays:

FIRST PLAY: Nora is in an unhappy marriage to Torvald and at the end of the play leaves him and her children because “stifling”, “angry”, “trapped”.

SECOND PLAY: Nora returns 15 years later and is still angry at her husband. She’s become a famous feminist author (the social media influencers of her day) and she’s convinced her work as a feminist writer will “change the world in 20 or 30 years” even though there have been precious few changes in the intervening fifteen.

FIRST PLAY: Nora and her husband, Nora and her former nursemaid Anne Marie, and Nora and practically everyone else in the house talk past each other, display a shocking lack of empathy and try not to yell.

SECOND PLAY: Ditto. Except in this play there’s more yelling. And swearing.

Director Bill Walker, writing in the program asks: “A Doll’s House, Part 2 looks at the state we are in today, the progress that has been made or, in point of fact, has anything really changed?”

He’s put together a great cast to help answer that question. As Nora, Emily Graham is restrained and calm while managing to control the simmering fury underneath. And she’s not the only one who is “pissed”. As her old nursemaid Anne Marie, Kate Blundell is at once frail yet steely in her wish to do the right thing but at the same time to protect the few advancements she has made in her life.

Stew Granger as Torvald is all the puzzled, annoyed and irritated men who bellow in frustration “I Can’t WIN with you!”. In Torvald’s world the battle of the sexes is entirely transactional and always will be.

Finally, the delight of the show is seeing a performance like the one given by Makenna Beatty. She plays Nora and Torvald’s daughter Emmy. Ms. Beatty and playwright Hnath transplant a modern up-talking teenager into the 19th century and turn her into one of the Marvel Avengers: tentative at first, logical, slightly devious and ultimately seeking justice. It is a performance that comes at precisely the right moment in the play.

Perhaps the best thing about this play is also the most surprising: it is funny. Imagine that. Somehow we are able to laugh at people struggling with many of the big questions that continue to plague us.

Rob Davidson, Northumberland News

The play was taut and fiery - a tension-filled experience. I strongly recommend this play.

Set 15 years after Nora Helmer abruptly walked out on her husband and children for a life on her own, a knock on the door announces her unexpected return.

During her long absence, Nora has become a famous writer, amassed wealth, taken lovers and advocated against marriage.

She is adversarial in her return, demanding the divorce that her abandoned husband promised but did not deliver. She connives with her former nanny, rages against her passive husband and wheedles her innocent, now 20-year old, daughter to have her way.

All three push back strongly, profanely.

Nora is angry, defiant, unapologetic and frustrated.

This drama is convincing. The verbal tirades are very real, the language contemporary. The drama provides resolution to the many questions that Ibsen's original left hanging.

The rupture caused by Nora's abandonment of family will likely result in opposing views of Ibsen and Hnath's character among audience members.

Ken Prue

Originally published in Northumberland News

This is bound to hit a chord regardless of your perspective on love.

Does marriage ruin women’s lives?

Prepare to engage in a challenging and at times humorous commentary about love, relationships, marriage, gender inequality and human rights in the Northumberland Players’ ‘A Doll’s House Part 2’.

Written by Lucas Hnath, directed by Bill Walker, and produced by Kaye Torrie, this play picks up after Henrick Isben’s 1879 play ‘A Doll’s House’.

It’s been 15 years since Nora (Emily Graham) walked out on her husband Torvald (Stew Granger) and their three children. Nora returns in need of help to protect the successful life she created for herself since leaving her marriage. Nora now has to face her scorned ex-husband Torvald, the woman who raised her children in her absence, Anne Marie (Kate Blundell) and Emmy (Makenna Beatty) the daughter she never got to know.

It’s striking how a play set in another century is so relevant for today — this play dives deep into challenging topics, leaving you to question if anything has really changed since the late 1800s. In the director’s notes, Walker said, “With a wonderful sense of stage simplicity, and a focus on the language of relationships, Hnath brings to the stage a compelling, endearing and perhaps dangerous lens through which we see each character’s struggle for self-worth and control.”

Walker’s right — the stage set is simple, making way for the extremely strong performances of each cast member. The acting in this show truly blew me away. The costume design (Lisa Schnalzer-Missen) was beautiful and brought this period piece to life. The success of the show belongs to a huge team of volunteers — bravo everyone!

This play is bound to hit a chord with everyone regardless of what your perspective is on love and relationships. Also, you don’t need to have seen ‘A Doll’s House’ to enjoy this show.

Kristin Andrews, Northumberland News