Photo Flash: Orlando Shakespeare Presents A DOLL'S HOUSE: PART 2

Lucas Hnath's A Doll's House, Part 2 produced by Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF runs from January 2 - February 3, 2019. Tickets (starting at $30) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

In the final scene of Ibsen's 1879 groundbreaking masterwork, Nora Helmer makes the shocking decision to leave her husband and children, and begin a life on her own. This climactic event-when Nora slams the door on everything in her life-instantly propelled drama into the modern age. In A Doll's House, Part 2, many years have passed since Nora's exit. Now, there's a knock on that same door. Nora has returned. But why? And what will it mean for those she left behind?

"A comedic send-up of Ibsen's original dramatic script, Hnath's A Doll's House, Part 2 is a continuation of Nora's journey," Director Cynthia White notes. "Her exit at the end of Ibsen's A Doll's House was known as 'the door slam heard around the world.' What has happened to Nora-and to the feminist movement-in the fifteen years since she first slammed that door?"

Orlando Shakes' A Doll's House, Part 2 features:

· Suzanne O'Donnell* as Nora. O'Donnell first season at Orlando Shakes was in 1993 in As You Like It and Comedy of Errors. Shakespeare credits at Orlando Shakes include: The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Winter's Tale, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry IV Part 1, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Hamlet, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Taming of the Shrew. New plays at Orlando Shakes: Blackberry Winter,Pluto, Cortez Method, and Bad Dog. Her directing work for the company includes Holiday Memories and It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. Recent regional credits include: Lend Me a Tenor, The Importance of Being Earnest (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Theatre), Boston Marriage (1812 Productions), Comedy of Errors, Arcadia (Folger Theatre), Romeo and Juliet, Dancing at Lughnasa (Arden Theatre), Social Security, and Dinner with Friends (Cape May Stage). She has extensive experience teaching acting to kids, teens, and adults and holds certifications with Yogaworks and Kripalu Yoga.

· Steven Lane* as Torvald. Lane was last seen at Orlando Shakes in The Luckiest People. Other Orlando Shakes credits include The Hound of the Baskervilles, Dancing Lessons, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, A Christmas Carol, Into the Woods and his all time favorite play, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. He has worked at numerous theaters in a wide range of roles, from Che in Evita to Mordred in Camelot to Cornelius in Hello, Dolly! Lane has a bachelor's in vocal performance from Stetson University and is a grateful member of Actors' Equity.

· Anne Hering* as Anne Marie. Hering has appeared in recent Orlando Shakes productions of Shakespeare in Love, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,Vanya, Sonia, Masha & Spike, Bakersfield Mist, Bad Dog, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Sense and Sensibility, Romeo and Juliet,Cymbeline, God of Carnage, Pride and Prejudice, All's Well that Ends Well, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge, The Glass Menagerie, Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors, The Merry Wives of Windsor, King Lear, Into the Woods, Twelfth Night and The Winter's Tale. Directing credits include The Great Gatsby, The Tempest, The Turn of the Screw, Yankee Tavern and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Hering is Director of Education at Orlando Shakes.

· Ana Martinez Medina as Emmy. Ana is currently studying to earn her MFA in Acting at UCF. Orlando Shakes credits include In The Heights(Ensemble) and The Jungle Book (Mother Wolf, Bhopla). Recent UCF credits include Pentecost (Gabriella) and Bernarda Alba (Bernarda Alba). After graduating from Western Michigan University (BFA, Musical Theatre Performance), she moved to Chicago for a year where she worked as a freelance actor, director, and dramaturg. Since then, she has been happy to call Orlando her home for the last few years.

Director Cynthia White's directing credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Woman in Mind, Toys in the Attic, Ballerina, The Voice of the Prairie, and the world premiere of Emma's Child (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Shadowlands (Pioneer Theatre Company); A Streetcar Named Desire (Utah Shakespeare Festival); Twelfth Night and Our Town (Alabama Shakespeare Festival); Othello (Marin Shakespeare); and Macbeth at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Mississippi Theatre. At Orlando Shakes she directed Native Gardens, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Dancing Lessons. White is Orlando Shakes' Director of New Play Development, introducing new plays to Orlando Shakes through PlayFest presented by Harriett's Charitable Trust. At UCF, credits include directing The Lion in Winter and Boy Gets Girl, as well as work developing UCF's Pegasus PlayLab's inaugural season in which she staged workshop productions of Intuitive Men and Bathsheba's Psalms or A Woman of Unusual Beauty Taking a Bath.

The artistic team also includes Scenic & Lighting Designer Stephen Jones**, Costume Designer Denise R. Warner, and Sound Designer Britt Sandusky.

*Member of Actors' Equity Association

**Member of United Scenic Artists

Photo Credit: Megan Pridemore