THE SCENERY
“ When I read the scripts for the first time , I was struck by a sense of hollowness and vacancy in both plays . That hollowness is both the connection and the divergence between these worlds .
In A Doll ’ s House , there was an emptiness masked by facade and secrecy . A Doll ’ s House , Part 2 presents a more honest emptiness – everything is out in the open with nothing to hide behind . Both feel anoxic , with a sense of lightness and an almost skeletal rigidity .
I thought about wedding imagery , specifically the veil . In a sense , Torvald and Nora never left the wedding – the pageantry and roles . They never explored what it means to have a truly meaningful relationship . In many cultures , a veil is both a concealment and protection device for women — from spirits , the evil eye , and from the gaze of men . I was interested in what it means to protect women by obscuring them . From there came the translucent fabric curtains . In part 2 , it ’ s like Nora is visiting the abandoned wedding venue — the calcified remains that Torvald never left behind .
The Grandon can feel like being inside a bunker . I saw an opportunity to introduce something light and airy to the weighty space . It is an intimate environment where we ’ re forced to be aware of our fellow viewers . I wanted to both include and unveil the audience from one another , inviting them to see themselves within the framework of the story .”
LUCIE GREENE SCENIC DESIGNER / SCENIC ARTIST
A Doll ' s House & A Doll ' s House , Part 2 | theatrecr . org 17