(TOP ROW) Cara Ricketts, Joshua Echebiri, Russell G. Jones (BOTTOM ROW) Pascale Armand, Ian Lassiter, Caylen Bryant
(RED BANK, NJ) -- The award-winning Two River Theater has announced the cast and creative team for Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House. Written by Henrik Ibsen and adapted and directed by acclaimed director Justin Emeka (Sweat, Romeo and Juliet), this world premiere adaptation is reimagined in 1950s New Jersey, weaving Black culture into one of the most powerful plays ever experienced. A Doll's House will run in the Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater from February 21–March 15, 2026.
"What is worth saving?" This question still echoes nearly 150 years after Henrik Ibsen first constructed A Doll's House. With this sensational story about a dark secret that threatens to destroy a family, Ibsen created the drama's very first feminist. And in its heroine, Nora Helmer, Ibsen brought the struggle for personal liberation to vivid life.
"When Justin Emeka gifts his vision to a project, it always adds up to more than the sum of its parts," says Artistic Director Justin Waldman. "Such is his ability to plumb the depths to mine more heart, more humor, more meaning. In this World Premiere adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's legendarily seismic work, Justin places Nora Helmer in 1950s suburban New Jersey, at a crossroads of burgeoning civil rights and rampant red lining, to illicit a distinctly immediate and actively necessary new look at a piece of art that shocked the world."
The cast includes: Tony Award® nominee Pascale Armand (Eclipsed, The Trip to Bountiful) as Christie Linde, Caylen Bryant (A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical) as Helen, Joshua Echebiri (The Comedy of Errors, King James), as Torvard Helmer, Obie and SAG Award winner Russell G. Jones (Only Murders in the Building, Ruined) as Dr. Rank and Ian Lassiter (Tammy Faye, King Lear) as Nils Krogstad and Cara Ricketts (Time and the Conways, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) as Nora Helmer.
The creative team includes: Adapter and director Justin Emeka, Choreographer Mayte Natalio, Scenic Designer Riw Rakkulchon, Costume Designer Sarita Fellows, Lighting Designer Abigail Hoke-Brady,, Sound Designer Germán Martez, Composer Caylen Bryant, Hair and make up designer Nikiya Mathis, , Intimacy/Fight Coordinator Gerardo Rodriguez, Dialect Coach Nathan Crocker, Production Stage Manager Kelsy Durkin, Assistant Stage Manager Lisa Toudic and casting by Caparelliotis Casting/David Caparelliotis and Joseph Gery.
TICKET INFORMATION: Ticket prices start at $50 and are available for purchase online. 2025/26 subscribers receive a 10% discount on additional tickets, and groups of 10 or more receive a 20% discount. Groups should email [email protected] directly.
Plays, artists, dates, and ticket prices are subject to change.
Two River Theater's 2025/26 Season Sponsor is Hackensack Meridian Riverview Medical Center. The Production Sponsors for A Doll's House are Monmouth University, Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey, and VNA Health Group.
Two River Theater produces American and world classics, new plays and musicals, programs for young people, and festivals of new work. Each year, they serve over 20,000 students, families and community members through their 4-6 show season, and 40+ events that reflect their diverse community of Monmouth County. Two River produces work on two stages—the 350-seat Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater, and the flexible 110-seat Marion Huber Theater. In 2020 they expanded our campus to 80,000 square feet with the opening of the Center for New Work, Education and Design.
Two River Theater has commissioned and premiered original projects including Be More Chill by Tony Award® nominee Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz (the theater's first Broadway production) and Hurricane Diane by former Playwright-in-Residence Madeleine George (which won an Obie Award for its Off-Broadway run), and in June 2019, Two River was nationally recognized by USA TODAY as one of "10 great places to see a play." Two River Theater is led by Artistic Director Justin Waldman and Managing Director Nora DeVeau-Rosen.
Two River Theater is funded in part by public support through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the State of New Jersey, and the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners. Private support includes American Theatre Wing, Citizens Philanthropic Foundation, Courtyard by Marriott, Edgerton Foundation, Grunin Foundation, Merrill G. & Emita E. Hastings Foundation, Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, MacMillian Family Foundation, Manasquan Bank Charitable Foundation, Molly Pitcher Inn and The Oyster Point Hotel, Monmouth University, OceanFirst Foundation, Open Heart Yoga, Senior Living Residences Marlboro, The Shubert Foundation, The Stone Foundation of New Jersey, Triumph Brewing Company, Visiting Nurse Association of NJ Health Group, Zager Fuchs P.C., and other generous funders.
