A Doll's House, Part 2 NYC Reviews and Tickets

"A clever, surprisingly amusing and thought-provoking new play performed to winning effect by a quartet of first-rate actors...The main pleasures in 'A Doll’s House, Part 2,' are rooted in the chance to watch four accomplished performers...Gold puts the actors’ performances front and center, often literally."
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"Hnath is markedly adept at allowing each of his characters to be outspoken and sympathetic...Nothing of the play’s suasion and humor has been lost with the cast changes under Gold’s smart direction. No comparisons are necessary. Suffice it to say that had Julie White opened when the play did, it could very well have been she who won this year’s Tony."
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"Hnath’s play is less a conventional sequel than a thought experiment inspired by the original...Hnath writes fast, vibrant dialogue and while Gold inserts a few postmodern touches, he mostly pushes the actors onstage and has them talk things over with hustle and vigor. The performers are excellent, particularly Metcalf...The play succeeds far better as a vivid and playful philosophical exercise than as a character-driven drama...This shouldn’t put ticket buyers off."
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“Metcalf is over the top, playing this narcissistic woman to the hilt. It is clear she is enjoying playing this role, but I would have liked to see some subtlety...Cooper gives us the longing of a man who is clueless as to why his love is never enough. Our hearts break for him…I kept wanting to know why was the house so bare, Gold did however in this case bring out terrific performances. Hnath is a talented writer and his script is biting, sarcastic and like a whip.”
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"The highest praise you can give Hnath is that he should now write a sequel to 'Streetcar'...A major miracle of Sam Gold’s direction is that each of actor comes from his or her own individual space to do battle. And that conflict of styles galvanizes the play...Hnath keeps defying our expectations...These fine actors’ very different approaches to their roles are what Hnath’s script calls for. That they rub together to produce such humor and warmth is the achievement of a master director."
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"The playwright’s every nuance continues to waft across the footlights...White...instantly establishes mastery of the role...Henderson’s Torvald is practically somnambulant until the brisk play’s final scene, when he is roused like an uncaged—and magnificent—bear...Wilhelmi’s Emmy is quite clearly and believably Nora’s daughter, and they make a fierce pair when they tangle...Full credit goes to director Gold, not only for his initial work but for the integration of this marvelous new cast."
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"Hnath wisely builds on Ibsen’s premise but is not enslaved by it…This is so much more than a sequel, it’s a gripping examination of the ways people try to live together under a restrictive society and what happens when they fail…Sam Gold’s measured direction injects just the right amount of humor to leaven this living-room war…Laurie Metcalf is a strikingly complex Nora…Hnath expands on a classic and provides his own insights into the issues it raised over 100 years ago."
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"It quickly becomes evident that 'A Doll’s House, Part 2,' the musing of playwright Lucas Hnath, is refreshingly creative...The dialogue is very much in contemporary vernacular, and that is a wise choice, avoiding making the play seem like faux Ibsen. A further plus is a superb cast and clever plotting...The play leaves me with uneasy questions about the take on Nora...Her trajectory is interesting to ponder, which makes the play all the more fascinating."
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