Friday, March 22, 2019
“A Doll’s House Part 2” at Pittsburgh Public Theater
The Pittsburgh Tatler: A large – one might venture to say, deliberately oversized – dark blue door dominates the elegantly curved wall of the Helmer home in the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s production of Lucas Hnath’s deservedly much-acclaimed A Doll’s House Part 2.
Of course it does. That’s a famous theater-history door, a famous 19th-century “Woman Question” door: it’s the door that slammed behind Nora after she walked out on a marriage that had infantilized her and robbed her of autonomy and self-actualization.
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3 comments:
I saw A Doll’s House Part 2 on Broadway about a year ago and I found this article very interesting because I don’t necessarily agree with the argument made here. I thought that the play didn’t quite have enough to propel the plot forward. Part of this, I think, was my disappointment with some of the technical elements. I enjoyed the set but I found that the lighting was a little lacking; there were almost no changes in the lighting throughout the entire play. The technical elements are just as crucial to moving the plot forward as the script itself and I found that I couldn’t quite engage with the story. I don’t know quite know whether to blame the script, the lighting, or just myself for not engaging with the story but I was very intrigued to read this perspective and I would maybe like to see the show, keeping these new ideas in mind, and see if I can get a deeper understanding of what the show is trying to accomplish.
I like reading about reviews for shows especially when they get into the specifics about the show itself and why this rendition was particularly memorable. In the article they talked about why the play itself is great and has been done so many times. They said it was mainly because of the characters and how direct (I guess you could say) they are. They specifically said, “it gives each of its characters clearly differentiated goals and needs and then allows each of its characters to fully persuade you of the rightness of their position”. Clearly differentiated characters is something that I agree is an important aspect to character development. I think many times there can be confusion around characters because a lot of them may come across similar and if they are rolls aren’t very prominent is could become hard for the audience to keep track. So I think that creating “clearly differentiated goals and needs” for characters is a way to eliminate that risk factor.
This review was written beautifully. I loved the use of flowery language such as “as she swooshes regally about the stage”. In general I haven’t seen the show so I dont have much to compare this production with, but I loved the way the way the characters were said to be developed. To me, one of my main issue with shows is when there is no “meat” to the characters. One dimensional characters lead to a pretty boring show, so I’m glad to hear this was a strength in this production. I definitely want to take the time to see this show before it closes. Additionally I appreciated how this review started its first and its last paragraph talking about the set, especially with the significance to the overarching plot. It was a nice way to frame this article. I wonder personally how connected this show is to A Doll’s House and if that is an important piece of context for the show. Nevertheless I’m sure the audience is able to figure it out.
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