“A Doll’s House, Part 2” now at Pasadena Playhouse

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1879) is one of the foundational works of modern drama. The play was written and first staged during the Victorian era, which was a time where rigid gender roles were part of the fabric of society. Women were mainly confined to the domestic sphere, with their identities and liberty tied to their husbands and children.

A potent critique of 19th-century marriage norms and gender roles, Ibsen’s ground-breaking play was radical in its time and remains a critical touchstone in feminist literary studies and modernist theatre. An imaginative sequel to Ibsen’s classic proto-feminist drama, created by Lucas Hnath, is now playing at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Fifteen years have passed since Nora slammed the front door on her husband, children, and shook off the shackles of Victorian-era patriarchy. Ibsen himself was adamantly opposed to writing a sequel, believing that Nora’s journey had to remain unresolved for maximum impact. Lucas Hnath’s play A Doll’s House, Part 2, first staged in 2017, imagines Nora returning 15 years later to request a formal divorce. His sharp, dialogue-driven drama tackles topics of personal freedom, the rules of society and gender, motherhood, and explores the moral ambiguities of Nora’s decision, as well as its repercussions on her family.

The play itself is not bad, but under the direction of Jennifer Chang, this production is baffling on so many levels. Firstly, the decision to place some of the audience members in raked seating upstage divides the action. The presence of three banks of onlookers evokes the viewing gallery of a courtroom. But the actors spend much of their time playing to the punters upstage, and turning their backs to the majority of us viewing from the auditorium. Then there’s the director’s choice to accentuate the humor of the play, encouraging broadly comic performances from her cast of four.

Given that Ibsen’s play is set in a Norwegian town circa 1879, fifteen years later gets us to 1894. Why, then, does the actress playing Nora make a show of revealing she is wearing modern-day running shoes soon after she bursts through the front door?  Was this the actor’s choice?  Elizabeth Reaser, who plays Nora, is best known for her television and film roles, which might account for her tendency to deliver a line upstage then break the fourth wall by grimacing at the rest of us seated in the house.

Some of the play’s language is also oddly loose and colloquial, given its turn-of-the 19^th century setting. Hearing contemporary vernacular rather than 19th-century language often feels distracting and inauthentic. Hearing characters shout expletives pulled me out of the narrative and, frankly, undermined the tone of Ibsen’s original work.

Nora has returned to formalize their divorce and therefore evade serious consequences; she is facing possible jail time for fraud. We learn that she’s become a successful writer using a pseudonym. The play consists of a series of scenes where the abandoned family members, including Anne Marie, the household’s long-term maid and nanny, played well by Kimberly Scott, berate Nora for her self-serving choices. The scene between Nora and her now grown daughter Emmy, played beautifully and passionately by Kahyun Kim, is full of criticism of Nora’s abandonment and her philosophies. The solution to Nora’s dilemma that Emmy suggests does not actually make sense.

Jason Butler Harner does well as Torvald, conveying the internal conflict and vulnerability of a character who is both a product of his time and an individual struggling to redefine his identity. Their final scene together offers a note of hope and possible reconciliation.

A Doll’s House, Part 2

Pasadena Playhouse

39 South El Molino Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101

Runs through Sunday, June 8, 2025.

Tickets and information for A Doll’s House, Part 2 are available at pasadenaplayhouse.org, by phone at 626-356-7529, and at the Box Office at the venue.

Tickets:           Onstage seating start at $30 on TodayTix

Regular seating starts at $40 on PasadenaPlayhouse.org

Performance Schedule: 

Wednesday and Friday evenings at 8:00 p.m.;

Thursdays at 7:00 p.m.;

Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m;

Sundays at 2:00 p.m and Sunday June 1st at 7:00 p.m.

From the press release – special offers:

Pasadena Playhouse is excited to announce an exclusive partnership with TodayTix to offer Onstage Seating, giving audience members the opportunity to experience Nora’s fated return from a new perspective. While these seats will be visible to the rest of the audience, A Doll’s House, Part 2 is not an interactive play, so guests will not be asked to participate in the action.

Onstage Seating is available through the TodayTix website or via its mobile app and can be purchased in advance of attendance for $30. These general admission tickets are located on stage, seated directly upstage of the playing space in the middle of the action.

Pasadena Playhouse is also making it easier for parents to come to the theater by offering onsite childcare during the 2 PM performance of A Doll’s House, Part 2 on Saturday, May 24, 2025.

Children ages 5 through 12 will enjoy a theater workshop with trained teaching artists onsite at Pasadena Playhouse while parents enjoy the performance. Age-appropriate activities inspired by the play will allow kids to explore their creativity and introduce them to the world of theater. The cost is $20 per child and doesn’t include performance tickets.