A Doll's House presented by Definition Theatre Company at Chopin Theatre

Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended

"...The current production, an 85-minute version of Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" directed by Michael Halberstam, does not really allow for a full exploration of the nature of this companionship since only two members of the ensemble - Tyrone Phillips, who plays Torvald, and Mercedes White, who plays the domestic servant Helen, are in this cast. The lead, Nora-she who famously slammed the door on her patronizing husband - is played by another newcomer, Miriam Lee, a very engaging young performer, as are both Christopher Sheard, who plays Krogstad, and Krystal Mosley, who plays Mrs. Linde and who adds a certain note of impassioned gravitas."

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...In Definition Theatre Company's take on Henrik Ibsen's protofeminist classic, adapter-director Michael Halberstam (moonlighting from his job as the artistic director of Writers Theatre) has trimmed the script to a lean 80 minutes. The play loses nothing, however, in his briskly paced, sharply acted staging."

ChicagoCritic - Recommended

"...Michael Halberstam’s adaptation of A Doll’s House, now being performed by the young Definition Theatre Company, is a rapid-fire abridged version of Ibsen’s classic 1879 drama. The good news about the piece, which was based on a public domain translation, is that it eliminates many of the extraneous and heavy-handed lines from what was only Ibsen’s second prose play. The downside is that what remains is still a dated translation. However, the actors of Definition (which was created by alumni of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s department of theatre who graduated the year before I did) make the story compelling, and generally transform the faux-naturalistic dialogue into a stylized method of speaking which supports, rather than hinders the emotional development of the characters. And although the production is set in the time of the play’s writing, the story remains as current as ever."