Iranshahr Theater hosting “A Doll’s House, Part 2”

TEHRAN-Iranshahr Theater in Tehran is hosting the play “A Doll’s House, Part 2” written by the American playwright Lucas Hnath.

Mohsen Alikhani has directed the 80-minute play, which has Negar Takhtkeshha, Pardis Jalali, Hamideh Rajabzadeh, Sara Alaghmand, Mahmoud Bagheri, and Sajjad Hosseini in the cast.

Originally written in 2017, the play picks up after Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 play “A Doll’s House” concludes. Hnath’s play, set in 1894, concerns Nora, who had left her family and then returns after 15 years. The play examines the rules of society and gender.

In the final scene of Ibsen’s 1879 groundbreaking masterwork, Nora Helmer makes the shocking decision to leave her husband and children and begin a life on her own. This climactic event—when Nora slams the door on everything in her life—instantly propelled world drama into the modern age.

“A Doll’s House, Part 2” begins with a knock on the door — the same door that was slammed shut 15 years earlier when Nora exited at the end of Ibsen’s play. Nora has returned, and it is she who is knocking. After leaving her husband, children, and the nursemaid, Nora became a successful feminist novelist. The reason for her return is to finalize a divorce from Torvald; she needs him to sign the legal papers. Nora is questioned about what she has been doing, and the family and the nursemaid express their recriminations of her.

The play will remain on stage at the Iranshahr Theater, located in Artists Park on North Mousavi St., Taleqani St., through January 20.

SS/SAB