Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1879) is probably Scandinavia’s most famous play, having reached audiences around the world in a myriad of languages. Several attempts have been made to figure out what becomes of Nora after she leaves her husband and children behind, though none have been particularly successful…until now. A Doll’s House, Part 2, written by Lucas Hnath and directed by Sam Gold, had its premier on Broadway on April 27, 2017 and less than a week later it had garnered a Tony nomination for Best Play–with a little help from Susan Brantly.
Brantly was a script consultant for the production and fielded questions from the producers and playwright regarding just what the possibilities were for women in 19th Century Norway. This is territory quite familiar to Brantly since her first book, The Life and Writings of Laura Marholm (1991), traced the career of a woman writer who tried to make it on her own in Scandinavia and Germany. Brantly provided a copy of her anthology, Sex and the Modern Breakthrough (2004), so that the collaborators on the play could get a taste of the sort of writing done by Amalie Skram and Victoria Benedictsson. Nora’s legal standing regarding her divorce is another significant area that was discussed during the consultations, and Brantly suggested the location of the play, which was never mentioned in Ibsen’s original, but was important for the manufactured wedding certificate that is the visual signature of the production.
Brantly says, “The questions asked by the production company were very smart, and it is clear they knew what to do with the information I gave them. I was as surprised and delighted as anyone in the audience to learn about Nora’s path to success as a woman writer. I had never expected the end result to be funny, but it succeeds in being poignant and hilarious at the same time. Magic.”
Read the full article at: http://ls.wisc.edu/news/scholarship-takes-center-stage