Feb 21 – Mar 15 / 2026
Tickets available at Two River Theatre
Review by Patrick Maley from NJ.com 3/5/2026
smart update of a classic, Two River Theater’s current production of “A Doll’s House” in Red Bank injects the play with modern resonance while celebrating the essence of this monument of Western theater.
Adapted and directed by Justin Emeka, the 1879 Norwegian play that is often credited with inaugurating modern drama is presented here as the story of a 1950s Black family in New Jersey, effectively and provocatively reenergizing themes and tensions that can seem distant in a classic telling.
Article by Chloe Rabinowitz for Broadway World
Two River Theater has revealed 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.
“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.”
Interview with Doug Doyle for WBGO
On this episode of The Art of the Story, acclaimed director and filmmaker Justin Emeka‘s talks to WBGO’s Doug Doyle about his adaptation of A Doll’s House that is set in 1950’s New Jersey. The world premiere of the play runs from February 21 through March 15 at Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey.
In this adaptation, Emeka weaves Black culture into one of the most powerful plays ever experienced.