Pakistani actress Samina Peerzada will be the guest of honour at the opening ceremony of the National Library of Norway’s exhibition exploring Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House – the world’s most performed theatre play throughout history.
Mrs. Peerzada played Nora – the leading role – in Karachi in 1992. In Oslo, she will meet former director of Norway’s National Theatre and cultural minister Ellen Horn in a stage conversation.
“It is a great pleasure for us to welcome Samina Peerzada to the National Library of Norway. Mrs. Peerzada has visited Oslo once before, when she performed at The International Ibsen Festival in 1994. The Norwegian audience will be thrilled to see her back in Norway,” Head of programming Eline Skaar Kleven said.
Henrik Ibsen’s drama A Doll’s House was his big international breakthrough and is one of the most performed plays throughout history. This summer at the National Library of Norway, Ibsen’s original manuscript is explored together with theatre programs, posters and translations from all continents. The event and exhibition show the play’s sensational success and explore Nora’s power and influence on the world audience.
A Doll’s House has been translated into about 60 languages, and the manuscript is registered in UNESCO’s list of International Memory of the World. The National Library of Norway has the world’s largest Henrik Ibsen Collection.
Henrik Ibsen was proud of his Nora, the protagonist of A Doll’s House who said goodbye to conventions and captured world literature forever.
Nora leaves her home, marriage, husband and children, an unthinkable act in Ibsen’s time. Several international theaters refused to put on A Doll’s House. “A woman cannot be herself in the contemporary society,” Ibsen wrote, and the play’s continuing popularity worldwide suggests that Nora’s role is not yet over.