A Doll's House, Part 2

I'm late to the A Doll's House, Part 2 bandwagon, and I nearly missed it entirely. But a friend saw the show and raved, so I decided to finally check it out.

And, yes, it's as good as everyone says. The plot is simple: Nora returns to get Torvald to legally divorce her. Author Lucas Hnath tells his story with humor and compassion; Sam Gold directs smoothly and smartly. The cast is excellent: Julie White is snappy yet vulnerable as Nora; Stephen McKinley Henderson is a surprisingly human Torvald; Jayne Houdyshell is her usual wonderful self as the maid who brought up Nora (and is quick to point out that she brought up Nora's kids as well); and Erin Wilhelmi is close to perfect as Nora's sweetly passive-aggressive daughter. (My only real complaint is that White's and Wilhelmi's voices both get unpleasantly high-pitched at times.)

And the show gets extra points for multiculti casting.

A Doll's House, Part 2 only runs through Sunday. Catch it if you can!

Wendy Caster
(8th row, audience right, tdf ticket)

Between Riverside and Crazy

In the truly amazing Between Riverside and Crazy, the wonderful Stephen Adly Guirgis signals us quickly that all is not what it seems. Pops, the old man in the wheelchair, is neither ill nor injured. The people who call him "Dad" are not his children. And the one-line description that is being widely used to descibe the play ("Between Riverside and Crazy centers on a retired policeman threatened with eviction and his extended family and friends") barely scratches the surface of this funny, fascinating, insightful, and surprising examination of truth, love, family, racism, loyalty, and the law. (I am not going further into the plot because I don't want to spoil anything.)

Stephen McKinley Henderson, Liza Colon-Zayas
Photo: Kevin Thomas Garcia

Stephen Adly Guirgis is a superb playwright. He should be mentioned with Albee and Stoppard among the living greats. Why?

• A great playwright presents three-dimensional people and lets us see what makes them tick--and makes us care about what makes them tick. Check.
  
• A great playwright uses language that is simultaneously lyrical yet real. Check.