A Night Out with Ash

‘Nora, A Dolls House’ by Stef Smith, directed by Elizabeth Freestone.

Nora was part of the women’s season at the Citizens’ Theatre in Tramway. It is a programme written and directed by women.

The staging for Nora was simple but highly effective. The set was a living room with only chairs. To the back of the stage there were three different doorways. Up-stage there was a realistic, believable outdoors. The lighting and sound worked well, for example, there were no children in the production but as an audience member you were made to believe there were children present just through sound.

All of the actors gave outstanding performances. Their movement was particularly appealing. The three women actors were Maryam Hamidi, Anna Russell and Molly Vevers.

Nora was set across three different time periods, all significant in women’s history; one Nora was from 1918, the second Nora from 1968 and the third from modern day. From my point of view as a woman, it gave me great insight into how far women have come but also how far women have still to go.

Nora was really an empowering and strong piece of theatre. It was hard-hitting emotionally, a thought-provoking production with outstanding, jaw-dropping performances.

Words by Ashley Mayer.