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Nora

Based on "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen


Nora

Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece

Director: Theodoros Terzopoulos

In Greek, with English and Hungarian subtitles  

1 hours 10 minutes, without breaks.

Nora plays the theatre of life to perfection. She takes it to the extreme until it explodes and releases the core of the ego. Nora symbolizes the theatre's struggle to go beyond its theatrical self and become life; to set itself on fire, to approach the Unseen, the Nothing. This other theatre, the theatre behind the stage, is that which cannot be "theatre". Ibsen's A Dollhouse is, after all, a study on the "being" of theatre. 

Nora compulsively satisfies her desires. Money is a vital missing element for her psyche. Her relationship with Torvald suits her: she is his dolly, his canary. Nora confesses that the dolly who so dutifully plays her part would like to explode at some point and expose the deceit. She blames her fake life on Torvald, but in reality they are accomplices in the lie. The tacit agreement they have allows them to mask their hostile feelings, believe they are an ideal couple united by genuine love and live their lives in a lie, in a dollhouse, dancing in a masquerade. 

When Krogstad appears, the dance turns into a nightmare, a frantic disintegration of the whole system. Krogstad brings to the surface what is repressed in the unconscious and threatens to bring down the shaky edifice. Krogstad is the dark unconscious that hides all the destructive impulses.

The unconscious is relentless. Nora must pay for her sin. She can no longer ignore her destructive urges, which are now turning against her. That is an important turning point. 

As for Torvald, it turns out that he is a narcissist who cares only for what the world thinks. The moral principles with which he tries to restrain Nora are hypocritical. Torvald represents the social Superego, the conventional values, which for Ibsen are the vital lies. 

The drama climaxes at the end with Nora's transcendence. She closes the door behind her with a thud on Torvald and their children. She leaves the conventional social value system behind. And she flees into the unknown. It is a form of suicide that can create the conditions for the birth of an authentic ego. 

Because the game in the Dollhouse is played between the fearful, manufactured ego and the repressed true self struggling to catch its breath. The moment it breathes, however, it faces a void. This is the price of self-knowledge. And this is the motivation of theatre.

Actors
Νora: Sophia Hill 
Krogstad: Tasos Dimas
Torvald: Antonis Myriagkos

Direction/ Setting installation/ Translation (from German)/ Adaptation/: Theodoros Terzopoulos
Costumes: Yiorgos Eleftheriades
Music: Panayiotis Velianitis
Lights: Theodoros Terzopoulos, Konstantinos Bethanis
Setting construction    : Charalampos Terzopoulos    
Production manager/subtitles:Maria Vogiatzi                         
Photos: Johanna Weber

Director

Theodoros Terzopoulos

MS
Main Stage
Theodoros Terzopoulos

Theodoros Terzopoulos

Theodoros Terzopoulos was born in Makrygialos village. He founded Attis Theatre Company in Delphi in 1985.

He has directed ancient tragedies, opera and the most leading modern plays in Greece and in famous theatres worldwide. Over 37 years he has presented more than 2200 performances worldwide. His approach to the classic Greek tragedy is part of the curriculum in Theatre Academies and Departments of Classical Studies. He leads many workshops, lectures about his method, and is an Emeritus professor in Academies and Universities. Since 2013 he has held the annual international summer workshop “The Return of Dionysus - The Method of Theodoros Terzopoulos” for young artists. He has received many international Theatre Awards. Books on his acting method and Attis Theatre, including The Return of Dionysus in which he explains his method, have been published in many languages.

He has been artistic director of theatre institutions, such as:
Director of the Drama School of the State Theatre of Northern Greece (1981-1983), Artistic Director of the International Meetings on Ancient Drama in Delphi (1985 – 1988, 1995 – 2004), Founding member of the International Institute of Mediterranean Theatre (since 1990),  Founder and Chairman of the International Committee of Theatre Olympics (since 1995), Founder and Artistic Director of the International Meetings of Ancient Drama in Sikyon Municipality (since 2005).

Photo: Johanna Weber

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