Review of A Doll’s House, Part 2 | A doll who says no

Rarely has a woman who slams the door of a house to leave the marital home been talked about so much. Since 1879, Nora Helmer, main character ofA doll’s house, Henrik Ibsen’s classic, has inspired hundreds of designers. From Elfriede Jelinek to Rébecca Déraspe via director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Because leaving behind her husband and children, Nora has chosen to live her life in complete freedom. Even if it means shaking up the morals of his time. Over time, the character has become a symbol of the emancipation of women, even of feminism; even if Ibsen said that the only thing that interested him was “to strive to portray human nature”.

In 2017, American author Lucas Hnath went even further. In A dollhouse, 2^e part, he imagined a sequel where Nora returns knocking on the door of the house, 15 years later. Independent and sure of herself, Nora now writes best-selling novels, while collecting lovers. Since her departure, Nora has not given any sign of life to her family. She returns to her old home to settle a matter of divorce papers with Torvald, her ex-husband, a banker who appears more conciliatory than the original character.

Both a respectful sequel and a contemporary rereading, A dollhouse, 2^e part takes up the themes of Ibsen’s work: criticism of the institution of marriage, of the relationship between man and woman in the couple, of the traditional family, of bourgeois morality… to expose its topicality. “If Ibsen’s Nora shook the pillars of the temple when it was created in 1879, Lucas Hnath’s Nora reminds us that they are still firmly anchored in 2023”, writes Marie-France Lambert in the Rideau Vert program. Lambert signs the staging, with sobriety and efficiency, leaving room for the play of the performers.

In the demanding role of Nora, we happily find Macha Limonchik who is playing for the first time at the Rideau Vert. The actress is on stage like a fish in water! With his mane of fire, Limonchik has a game full of passion and fury reminiscent of that of the late Michelle Rossignol. But a lioness capable of exposing the vulnerability of Nora, this emancipated woman, but exhausted from having to always fight to justify her life choices.

In modern language, with a few “fuck you”, which Maryse Ward’s translation does not attenuate, Lucas Hnath tries to make us understand what pushed Nora to leave her home. But also the consequences of his departure on his relatives. In turn, Nora confronts her husband (wonderful Paul Ahmarani), her eldest daughter (bright Rebecca Vachon) and the nanny who raised her children (Louise Laprade, a beautiful and comforting presence).

The characters evolve in the splendid period costumes created by Judy Jonker, in the decor of Raymond Marius Boucher which reproduces the threshold of the house of a “doll” who dares to free herself and say no to social conventions. After having abruptly closed this door, Nora reminds us in passing that the fight for women’s freedom and equality is far from over…

A dollhouse, 2^e part

Text by Lucas Hnath, direction by Marie-France Lambert. With Macha Limonchik, Louise Laprade, Rebecca Vachon and Paul Ahmarani.

At the Rideau Vert, until February 25

7/10