Playwright Amy Herzog is the first woman to adapt Ibsen’s protofeminist play for Broadway.

In late 2020, Oscar winner Jessica Chastain was filming the HBO miniseries Scenes From a Marriage in New York City. At the same time, she was in conversation with British director Jamie Lloyd on a potential West End revival of A Doll’s House, in which she would play Nora. Lloyd then asked Chastain about bringing on a female playwright to adapt the Ibsen play. Recalls Chastain, “‘He said, ‘You know, I really think we need a woman’s voice on this.’ And I couldn’t agree with him more.” Luckily Chastain knew just the writer. Enter Obie-winning playwright Amy Herzog.

Chastain and Herzog had met on Scenes From a Marriage, where Herzog co-wrote the series and was the executive producer. And they had circled each other for years prior. Chastain had attended Juilliard with Herzog’s husband, Tony-winning director Sam Gold—and she had seen Herzog’s play The Great God Pan (starring a pre-Succession Jeremy Strong) Off-Broadway in 2012).

When they spoke to Playbill, Herzog was still fine-tuning her adaptation of A Doll’s House, which opens March 9 at the Hudson Theatre. Herzog’s inclusion is fitting considering that A Doll’s House is regarded a pivotal piece of feminist literature. Previous Broadway productions of Ibsen’s text, which was originally in Norwegian, used adaptations written by male authors. This new version, written by Herzog and led by Chastain, who has made waves in Hollywood for her advocacy for pay equity, finally puts women in charge of the storytelling (though the 1997 revival adapted by Frank McGuinness used a translation by Charlotte Barslund as its base).

When they spoke with Playbill, it was still early on in the rehearsal period but already, Chastain was effusive, saying that in contrast to how mannered and “less human” adaptations of classic texts can sometimes be, Herzog’s feels fresh and immediately accessible: “She makes it just feel so real and so honest and so personal. The language feels like it belongs to everyone in the room,” enthuses Chastain. “I find it to be incredibly inspiring to work on. I don’t have to manufacture, I don’t have to dig deep. I can just simply say the words and allow them to take me to places that I hadn’t planned out. And that’s a gift as an actor, to get that kind of text.”

Touched, and slightly stunned, Herzog responds, “Thank you, Jessica.”

Read the full article/interview in our press library.

March 4, 2023   Claudia

Acceptance Speech and video interviews with Jessica Chastain on her SAG Award Win for her interpretation of Tammy Wynette story.

February 27, 2023   Claudia

SAG AWARD WINNER JESSICA CHASTAIN, ladies and gentlemen! She shines and was the cutest thing ever seen on that stage.
How adorable and fashion she looked. Enjoy the HQ photos I added to the gallery, hoping for more additions to come.

February 27, 2023   Claudia

In a pared-down Broadway revival of “A Doll’s House,” the Oscar-winning actress doesn’t have props, period costumes or much of a set. To her surprise, she likes it.

Less than a week before she was set to appear in a Broadway revival of “A Doll’s House” as Nora, one of the most iconic female roles in Western theater, Jessica Chastain confessed to a nagging worry.

“I don’t want it to feel like a TED Talk,” she said.

Chastain sat in the upstairs lounge at the Hudson Theater, where preview performances of “A Doll’s House” began on Feb. 13. She was fighting a cold and drinking Throat Coat herbal tea, dressed in a navy sweater and white sneakers, a fluffy tan coat pooling around her.

She was reflecting on what it means to be starring in a raw, radical reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 play — a work long celebrated as a profound exploration of how gender roles confine women, distorting their identities.

Chastain has fought for pay equity in Hollywood, pushed for support of Planned Parenthood and used red-carpet and talk-show appearances to champion causes such as the women protesting repression in Iran. In films as varied as “Zero Dark Thirty” and “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” she’s embodied complicated, ambitious women who refuse to be constrained.

So she wondered if taking on the role of Nora, theater’s most famous oppressed housewife, might seem too pointed, even preachy.

“I’m such an advocate, I’m so outspoken, so even putting me in the part, we’re already doing something, right?” Chastain said. “So how can I as an actor approach it in a way that doesn’t feel like I’m here to give everyone in the audience a lecture?”

The answer came as she began to realize Nora isn’t a victim dominated by her condescending husband, Torvald. She plays the role of the pretty, fragile, childlike wife for a reason.

“When denied, you work within a system to gain power, and we’re all responsible for that. So that’s not just, oh, Torvald is a villain because he’s put Nora in a cage. Nora has stepped in the cage to gain what little power she has,” Chastain said. “Because girls are taught so young to be smaller, right? So our voices get higher, we don’t want to be threatening, we’re docile and meek. That’s kind of bred into us. But that’s part of how we are helping it continue, women not being seen as equal. We’re playing a part so we’re palatable enough, so that people hopefully will listen to us.”

Read the full article/interview in our press library.

February 23, 2023   Claudia

Now that it came to an end and everything can be placed rightfully, I have updated the George & Tammy section with episodic HQ stills of Jessica Chastain from each episode. Enjoy!

February 22, 2023   Claudia

Last week Jessica Chastain went to The View to promote her new projects, no official images I could find yet but here are two clips from the official youtube account.

You can watch them both at our video vault.

February 7, 2023   Claudia