Theatre / A Doll’s House, Part 2, written by Lucas Hnath, directed by Joel Horwood. At Canberra Rep Theatre, until June 28. Reviewed by SIMONE PENKETHMAN.

A Doll’s House Part 2 is a 2017 play by American playwright, Lucas Hnath. It is a sequel to Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s famous 1879 play, A Doll’s House.

In the late 19th century, Ibsen’s play caused outrage because it ends with a married woman leaving her husband and children.

Part 2 claims to be a stand-alone play, but its success could well be a testament to the enduring interest and acclaim of the original.

Part 2 begins 15 years after Nora left her family to discover herself. She fled a life of being the plaything of her domineering father and then her condescending husband, the banker, Torvald.

Now a successful and finely dressed feminist author, she fears scandal and ruin. An aggrieved and powerful man knows that she is still a married woman even though her literary success rests on her encouraging other women to leave their husbands.

Nora returns to her marital home to secure a divorce.

With a small cast of four characters, the play is a series of scenes inside the doll’s house.

Tom Berger’s set is coldly stylish, evoking a Nordic minimalism that’s bereft of any sign of comfort or personal expression.

Lainie Hart plays the unlikable individualist, Nora. Appearing in every scene, her committed and energetic performance is the backbone of the show.

She first meets Anne Marie (Elaine Noon), the servant who left her own child to bring up Nora and then Nora’s now grown-up children.

Anne Marie is entirely dependent on Torvald and understandably has little sympathy for Nora’s plight.

Next is Torvald (Rhys Robinson) who is still nursing the hurt and shame of Nora’s desertion.

Anne Marie suggests that Nora meets her daughter Emmy (Anna Lorenz), who may be able to solve Nora’s problem. The meeting of the long-estranged mother and daughter is heartbreakingly cold.

This is a play of words and ideas rather than action. The story is carried by exposition and at times the characters become mouthpieces for philosophical points of view.

There is also humour and pathos and both Nora and Torvald show humanity as their characters evolve.