Review: A DOLL'S HOUSE at Milwaukee Chamber Theater

​Milwaukee Chamber Theater's second production Henri Ibsen in the company's 50-year history is told in modern language in Amy Herzog's new version of the classsic "A Doll's House."  But the story and its resonance are timeless.

Director Leda Hoffmann packs this condensed version with a power that still packs a punch nearly 150 years after it's 1879 premiere.  

Herzog's "A Doll's House," which spent some time on Broadway in 2023 with Jessica Chastain, loses nothing in it's relative (105 minutes) brevity .

Jennifer Voster as Nora gives a delicate, emotional performance in the difficult roll of Nora, balancing her long-simmering need for independence with her childlike qualities — she is a playmate to her two children (Ira Kindkeppel-Longden and Jillian Vogedes.)

Her doting, indulgent, condescending and sometimes casually cruel husband is portrayed by Josh Krause, who matches Voster's balancing act with a richly detailed performace as a man desperate for control of his life and his "doll's house."

Matt Bowdren, Anand Nagraj and Kat Wodtke play three characters in crisis, who are also the outside catalysts for the crisis point that shakes Nora's complacent world. Libby Amato exhudes warmth, representing the safety of Nora's gilded cage. Each actor brings a sharp, nuanced performance, even during brief appearances.

Photo: Josh Krause and Jennifer Voster