SARASOTA – The New York Times calls it, “smart, funny, and utterly engrossing.” ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2’ premieres at Asolo Rep Friday.
“I saw it on Broadway and when the curtain came down, I said, ‘I need to do this play,’” Director Peter Amster said.
Amster says there’s a fire inside this dramatic comedy that made him want to direct his own.
“I’ve been pretty well known to do large comedies: tender, sentimental pieces, but this is a little more tough-minded,” Amster said. “It’s still funny, but it’s smaller; it’s four actors; it’s one set; it’s 90 minutes, and it’s a roller coaster ride.”
It’s a ride you can take with Kate Hampton, who plays Nora in the show, which starts right where ‘A Doll’s House’ left off.
“It’s 15 years later, and Nora comes back and she has an agenda,” Hampton said. “Having left Torvald, she’s found her own agency and her own autonomy and her own voice.”
She’s able to make decisions about her life she says she couldn’t when she felt suffocated in her marriage.
“So that’s what appealed to me about the story, in light of #MeToo and women and power and how we’re still grappling with these issues, and it feels really relevant even though it’s set in 1894,” Hampton said.
“It’s a battle of the sexes here on this stage, and there are no real winners, only survivors,” Amster said.
There’s no battle, though, between Nora and her real-life husband, David Breitbarth, who plays Torvald.
“I love working with him,” Hampton said.
“This is a couple that take their work home with them and come back better,” Amster said.
‘A Doll’s House, Part 2’ runs thru March 31. For tickets, click here.
