NEW YORK — Experiencing the fascinating new revival of Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House,” which reduces the iconic proto-feminist drama to its barest thematic essentials, is not unlike listening to a podcast. For anyone interested in Broadway trends, here is a remarkable example of how the rise of Audible and AirPods — and the huge popularity of stories playing in your ear — has made spectacle not only inessential but maybe even an unnecessary risk. Even on Broadway, which made its bones on frills and feathers.
In fact, you could close your eyes for much of this show, which stars Jessica Chastain and Arian Moayed (Stewy on “Succession”) and still grasp most of the ideas from the adapter, Amy Herzog, and the British director Jamie Lloyd. Only at the surprise ending, and the final dramatic punch is not the famous slam of the door, does that not apply.
The actors wear microphones inches from their lips, allowing the show to be even more conversational than actual conversation. Actors are dressed in shades of black and there is no physical business whatsoever: it doesn’t matter if we’re talking letters ex machina or shorn wedding rings, the action of this famously naturalistic play is merely described verbally. You are asked to see it in your mind’s eye.
