A Doll's House, Part 2 (TCG Edition)

Lucas Hnath

• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9781559365826
• eBook ISBN:
  9781559368971
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: American Drama
• Index: Literature

“Smart, funny and utterly engrossing…This unexpectedly rich sequel reminds us that houses tremble and sometimes fall when doors slam, and that there are living people within, who may be wounded or lost…Mr. Hnath has a deft hand for combining incongruous elements to illuminating ends.” —Ben Brantley, New York Times

It has been fifteen years since Nora Helmer slammed the door on her stifling domestic life, when a knock comes at that same door. It is Nora, and she has returned with an urgent request. What will her sudden return mean to those she left behind? Lucas Hnath’s funny, probing, and bold play is both a continuation of Ibsen’s complex exploration of traditional gender roles, as well as a sharp contemporary take on the struggles inherent in all human relationships across time.

Nora

The room is empty.

And silent.

Silent and empty for a while.

Until …

There’s a knock at the door.

Then silence.

No one comes to answer it.

Another knock-knock.

Nothing.

And another knock at the door.

From offstage we hear a voice call out—

ANNE MARIE

Hold on! I’m coming!

(And then silence, until …

An older woman, Anne Marie, enters the room slowly—she’s got a little hobble.

She makes it to the door.

Unlocks it.

Opens it.

In the doorway: Nora.

Long pause.

Then …)

Oh Nora!

NORA

Hello Anne Marie.

ANNE MARIE

Nora I can’t believe it’s you!

NORA

… It’s good to see you.

ANNE MARIE

It’s really you. Nora Nora Nora—

It’s been so long

NORA

it has.

ANNE MARIE

… You got a little fatter.

You got older and you got a little—

NORA

well you hit a certain age—

ANNE MARIE

Don’t I know it.

Come in come here give me a hug it’s so good to see you.

How are you. Come in there’s some chairs you can take a

chair and sit in it

NORA

don’t worry about me, I’m fine

ANNE MARIE

I’m going to sit I’m going to sit my knees aren’t good

However I look on the outside—

inside it’s all a lot worse. And how are your insides—?

NORA

They’re good, Anne Marie.

ANNE MARIE

That’s good.

Mine, I don’t know, it’s the stomach that

feels like it’s gone all wrong,

but you look good and if your insides are all in order

then I’ll take your word for it—

I just—I just can’t believe it’s really you

NORA

well

ANNE MARIE

I didn’t know—no idea—if you’d ever come back around.

That first month, and those first six months—the first year or two or three even—there was the thought that maybe you’d show up, come back around, but then the more time that passed—you didn’t even write, no letters, nothing—

Fifteen years, fifteen years, could’ve thought you’d gone off and died—

I for the record never thought you were dead—

a lot of people thought you were dead,

other people, not Torvald and the kids of course, but a lot of people think you’re dead.

NORA

… okay

ANNE MARIE

and I look at your clothes and it looks like you’re definitely not destitute

NORA

nope, not at all

ANNE MARIE

it looks like the opposite of destitute

NORA

I’ve done very well.

ANNE MARIE

That’s just so nice. I’m happy to hear that, I never wanted bad things to happen to you …

(Nora takes in her surroundings, moving her eyes around a room she hasn’t seen in fifteen years.)

NORA

The house is—

ANNE MARIE

yes—?

NORA

it’s so …

ANNE MARIE

different?

NORA

from what I remembered

ANNE MARIE

same house

NORA

less stuff

ANNE MARIE

you forget things

NORA

there was a cuckoo clock used to be...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Nora
• Torvald
• Anne Marie
• Emmy
• Nora & Torvald