San Diego REP Announces The Cast And Creative Team Of A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2

San Diego Repertory Theatre announced today the cast and creative team for the third production in their 43rd season, Lucas Hnath's A Doll's House, Part 2. Directing this production is San Diego REP Artistic Director Sam Woodhouse. Hnath's A Doll's House, Part 2 debuted on Broadway in 2017 where it received eight Tony Award nominations. Performances run November 21 - December 16, 2018, at the Lyceum Stage Theatre. Tickets start at $25 and are currently on sale to the general public. Previews run November 21 - 27, 2018. Press opening is Wednesday, November 28 at 7:00 p.m.

The sharp-witted sequel to Henrik Ibsen's masterpiece A Doll's House begins with a knock at the door. Fifteen years ago, Nora walked out that same door, leaving behind her husband and children to pursue a life as a fiercely independent woman. Now Nora writes scandalous novels that encourage women to break free from the bonds of marriage and find their own destiny. When a powerful judge blackmails Nora she comes home to ask for help from the family she abandoned. What happens when the mother and wife that walked out the door has to confront the family she left behind?

With biting wit, Hnath (Red Speedos, The Christians) continues Nora's story in this intriguing play with a decidedly modern perspective. A Doll's House, Part 2 is a blistering and very funny meditation on marriage and the high cost of personal fulfillment. Familiarity with the original A Doll's House is entirely unnecessary to fully enjoy this play.

"This play is an audacious theatrical idea, and thus one of my favorite kinds of theatre," shared Artistic Director Sam Woodhouse. "How dare a 21st-century man write a sequel to a masterwork written in 1894 by Henrik Ibsen - the father of modern drama? In A Doll's House, Part 2 Lucas Hnath brings protagonist Nora blazing onstage with her potent story of female empowerment, there could not be a better show for our 43rd season."

Starring as the tenacious Nora is recent San Diego transplant Sofia Jean Gomez. Her extensive stage credits include work at Manhattan Theatre Club, Yale Repertory Theatre, Signature Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, and New World Stages.

René Thornton Jr. appears as Nora's husband Torvald. Thornton was last seen in The Old Globe's summer Shakespeare productions of Much Ado About Nothing and The Tempest. Previously a resident company member at the American Shakespeare Center, Thornton has performed in every play in Shakespeare's folio.

Rounding out the cast is local favorite and winner of multiple San Diego Critics Circle awards Linda Libby as Anne Marie, and making her REP debut is Los Angeles-based actor Danny Brown as Emmy.

The creative team includes Sean Fanning (Scenic Design), Jennifer Brawn Gittings (Costume Design), Matthew Lescault-Wood (Sound Design), Alan Burrett (Lighting Design), Angelica Ynfante (Properties Design), Laura ZIngle (Stage Manager), Dawn Moore (Dramaturg), Chelsea Smith (Production Manager), Rachel Mink (Assistant Director), and Kim Heil (Casting Director).

Performances for A Doll's House, Part 2 run November 21 - December 16, 2018, at the Lyceum Stage Theatre in Horton Plaza. Tickets range from $25.00 to $69.00 and can be purchased in-person at the San Diego REP Box Office, by calling 619-544-1000, or online at sdrep.org.

Lucas Hnath (Playwright): Lucas Hnath's plays include A Doll's House, Part 2 (8 Tony nominations, including Best Play); Hillary and Clinton; Red Speedo; The Christians; A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney; Isaac's Eye; and Death Tax. He has been produced on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre, Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Soho Rep, and Ensemble Studio Theatre. His plays have been produced nationally and internationally with premieres at the Humana Festival of New Plays, Victory Gardens, and South Coast Rep. He has been a resident playwright at New Dramatists since 2011. Awards: Kesselring Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, Whiting Award, two Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award Citations, Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Play, an Obie, and the Windham-Campbell Literary Prize.

Sam Woodhouse (Director): Co-founded San Diego REP with D.W. Jacobs in 1976, and has since worked as a director, producer or actor on more than 280 productions. As an actor, he has performed on The REP stages in The Seafarer, in the title role of King Lear, Proof, Hamlet, and with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra in the title role of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat. His recent directorial work with The REP includes: Fun Home, Beachtown, Hand to God, EVITA, Into the Beautiful North, Manifest Destinitis, Rapture, Blister, Burn, The Oldest Boy, Violet, Oedipus El Rey, Honky, El Henry (with La Jolla Playhouse), Detroit, Venus in Fur, In the Heights, Federal Jazz Project, Clybourne Park, and The Who's TOMMY. In 2011, he directed American Night: The Ballad of Juan José for the Denver Center Theatre Company. In 2003, he was awarded the Patté Shiley Award for Lifetime Achievement by KPBS and the prestigious Alonzo Award by the Downtown San Diego Partnership. In 2006, he and Jacobs were honored with the Craig Noel Award by the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle for 30 years of artistic dedication to downtown and diversity.

Season 43 Calendar: A Doll's House, Part 2 (11/21-12/16), Aubergine (1/24-2/17), Hershey Felder, Beethoven (2/21-3/24), Sweat (4/18-5/2).

About San Diego Repertory Theatre: San Diego Repertory Theatre (San Diego REP) produces intimate, exotic, provocative theatre. Founded in 1976, San Diego Repertory Theatre is downtown San Diego's resident theatre, promoting a more inclusive community through work that nourishes progressive political and social values and celebrates the multiple voices of our region. The company produces and hosts over 550 events and performances year-round on its three stages at the Lyceum Theatre. Since moving to the Lyceum, The REP has produced 50 main stage productions by Latino playwrights and more than 40 world premieres. The company has received more than 200 awards for artistic excellence from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle, Patté Theatre Awards, NAACP, Backstage West, Dramalogue and StageSceneLA. In 2005, the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle presented The REP with the Craig Noel Award "For 30 Years of Artistic Dedication to Downtown and Diversity." San Diego Repertory Theatre feeds the curious soul. To learn more about San Diego Repertory Theatre, to purchase tickets, or make a donation, visit www.sdrep.org.