CELIA IPIOTIS REVIEWS "A DOLL'S HOUSE"
NEW YORK NEW YORK April 15, 2023 -- "I'm leaving." The measured finality of that statement, uttered by Nora, reverberates throughout the Hudson Theater in the mesmerizing revival of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House set in 1879 and succinctly adapted by Amy Herzog. Stripped to the bones, this quiet but ravishing production directed by Jamie Lloyd, plays out like Japanese Noh theater or spare, ancient Greek drama. All the elements are distilled in the service of the language and slippery emotion built into each word. Straight backed, blond wood chairs on a turntable (by Soutra Gilmour) establish the time, place and ambiance. Lloyd moves individuals around the bare stage like chess pieces: Characters stand behind one another, in front, to the side, close by, or far away. In gradual increments, the stage choreography by Jennifer Rias frames individual's relationships to one another. Nora (Jessica Chastain) commands center stage. Her porcelain skin and delica...