A Doll's House thrust drama firmly into the modern age when it premiered in 1879. Now, nearly a century-and-a-half later, Tony Award nominee Jamie Lloyd and acclaimed playwright Amy Herzog will make freshly relevant a story that shocked audiences and brought forth a new era of theater. One of the most acclaimed actors of her generation, Jessica Chastain will inhabit one of the theater's most iconic roles, re-energizing the play for a whole new generation.
There production places too heavy an emphasis on the intimacy of conversation, where A Doll’s House should concern itself with appearances—the relationships we have with ourselves and others. Here, we are merely told of cigars lit, damning letters read, street coats being unexpectedly donned. Lloyd’s final directorial choice is a masterclass in unearned bravado; one that, with its self-conscious showiness, undermines the dramatic force Ibsen and Chastain have managed to summon. It’s their power against his, and though this peculiar revival offers its fair share of treasures, they are better off taking Nora’s route.
Lloyd mostly surrounds Chastain with dry, sympathetic performances. Michael Patrick Thornton, a highlight of last year’s Macbeth, plays Nora’s pining confidant, the sickly Dr. Rake, with an affecting mix of Weltschmerz and good humor. Okieriete Onaodowan brings low-key decency and desperation to the role of her secret loan shark and potential blackmailer, and Jesmille Darbouze is believably hard-nosed as her widowed friend; Tasha Lawrence has a sharp scene as the nursemaid who gave up her own child to care for Nora and hers. Only the production’s slick, peevish Torvald seems out of step: As played by the gifted Moayed—and as written in an otherwise sensitive new adaptation by Amy Herzog (Mary Jane)—he is transparently unworthy of Nora’s love from the start, and too thin a foil for her burgeoning consciousness. If that lowers the stakes of Ibsen’s famous denouement, however, Chastain keeps the tension high. What may look like a marital crisis is truly, for Nora, a matter of life and death. And as Chastain grasps her way to a final decision, she quietly, firmly brings down the house.
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2016 | Off-Broadway |
Theatre for a New Audience Repertory Off-Broadway |
2020 | West End |
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New Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Amy Herzog |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Adaptation | Amy Herzog |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play | Arian Moayed |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play | Jessica Chastain |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design of a Play | Ben Ringham |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Jessica Chastain |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Arian Moayed |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Play | Jamie Lloyd |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | A Doll's House |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play | Jessica Chastain |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Jessica Chastain |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Jamie Lloyd |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Jon Clark |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Arian Moayed |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | A Doll's House |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Play | Ben & Max Ringham |
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