Theatre review: A Doll’s House, Part 2 does disservice to one of theatre’s seminal feminist darlings

A Doll’s House, Part 2

Pangdemonium!
Victoria Theatre
March 8, 8pm

Pangdemonium’s A Doll’s House, Part 2 is a rehabilitation of maligned husband Torvald, persona non grata of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s groundbreaking A Doll’s House that was first staged in 1879.

American playwright Lucas Hnath’s update in 2017 extends the story to open with wife Nora’s return, 15 years after she had so abruptly abandoned her husband and children. That was a “slam heard round the world”, as Irish critic George Bernard Shaw has it in the patriarchal realities of 19th-century Europe.

This is directed by Timothy Koh and officially opened on International Women’s Day on March 8 – a bold choice. Nora, the now successful author of books encouraging women in stifling marriages to break their bonds, is portrayed predominantly in the selfish mode.

Having attained her independence, revelling in lovers galore in pejorative contrast to Torvald’s steadfastness, she now has to reckon with the consequences, with little love in reserve for her grown-up children and determined to finalise her divorce to protect the wealth she has amassed.

She is steely and presumptuous, even manipulative. It is clear Hnath offers this as a corrective in the polarised climate of post-feminism rhetoric.

The reality, naturally, should be more complex, and it is perhaps both a failure of writing and direction that audience loyalties are by the end not at all ambiguous. If this were a debate – and the absence of plot means Hnath’s attempts at presenting arguments are often transparent – this would unfortunately be a one-sided flogging.

But back to Nora, portrayed with some stage nervousness and a distinct lack of warmth by Jo Kukathas. Hnath’s dramatic structure is such that she is the one dominating the space, carved off to confront Torvald (Lim Kay Siu), daughter Emmy (Rebecca Ashley Dass) and housekeeper Anne Marie (Neo Swee Lin).

Almost every one of her interrogators outperforms her, Lim and Dass especially with pathos. Lim, awkward, stammering and finally effortful in re-enacting a physical tussle, comes across vulnerable, and principled in his discipline.

Dass’ turn is bright and as scene-stealing as it is ruthless. Here is a daughter who understands she owes her mother nothing.

This is a role with more emotional darkness than her saccharine Dorothy in Wild Rice’s 2024 year-end pantomime The Wizard Of Oz. And she relishes it, switching tonally from detached curiosity to sardonic critique, managing to be progressive in her regressive commitment to marriage – that institution Nora so unreservedly spurns.

As eloquent as Hnath’s diction is, there is a certain lack of temporal and cultural context that reduces A Doll’s House, Part 2 to something of a thought experiment. The characters could sit easily in the 21st century, with some contrived, expulsive swearing.

A set that overlays European architecture with what looks like an Asian ink on rice paper scroll makes for a culturally confused choice.

That, at least, allows a setting sun and moon to denote the passing of the day. The progress of time in tandem with a warring couple’s emotions is a device Koh has previously employed.

Yet for all its flaws, in its centring of the conflicting draws of independence and marital responsibility, Hnath’s play still has an irresistible pull on those viewing to enter the fray.

There is a reminder of the courage and humanity in staying in relationships to work out how to be with another in intimate ways. Whether to have two children or three, and whether to gun for that SG60 baby gift backpack, to be or not to be alone is a deeply personal choice.

One should be able to accept the trade-offs of one without completely turning one’s back on the other. Nora, 15 years wiser, deserves in that respect to also lead the charge.

Book It/ A Doll’s House, Part 2

Where: Victoria Theatre, 9 Empress Place
When: March 7 to 23, Tuesdays to Fridays, 8pm; Saturdays, 3 and 8pm; Sundays, 3pm 
Admission: From $30
Info: pangdemonium.com/whats-on-details/a-dolls-house-part2