30/12/2024
Our team is proud & excited to announce our second production as a company! In 2025, we will take on Berlin's (and hopefully the world's) stages with NORACORE, an original play written by our founder and artistic director, Anna Bănică, directed by Bailey Hubbs!
Written as a modern retelling of Henrik Ibsen’s "Doll House", the play follows Sabina, a 24-year-old Romanian Architecture graduate, who flees the oppressive expectations of her homeland only to confront the alienation and exploitation of Western liberalism. Struggling to find her footing, she shoulders financial and emotional burdens to support her boyfriend Adam, an idealistic but entitled actor chasing his big break, as Torvald Helmer in an independent production of “A Doll’s House”.
The play intertwines Sabina’s story with a vivid ensemble of characters: her judgmental mother Narcisa, her brash and carefree best friend Stephanie, and Adam’s toxic and opportunistic friend Oliver. Each relationship mirrors Sabina’s struggle to reconcile societal expectations, personal agency, and survival in a Western world. Stephanie’s unapologetic embrace of privilege and her endorsement of online s*x work as an empowering way to earn fast money leads Sabina to make a decision rooted not in liberation, but desperation: becoming a cam girl.
Layered with biting commentary on capitalism, feminism, and digital s*x work, this fresh and original story critiques the commodification of bodies and identities under the guise of autonomy and choice. It juxtaposes the promises of neoliberalism, asking whether true agency exists for those already marginalised. This is not just a retelling, but a reinvention—a reminder that Nora’s decision to walk out of her “doll’s house” is still a battle many women face today.
Cast: Anna Bănică, Lukas Blaukovitsch, Shivani Bajaj, Kristers Ozols, Andreea Bănică | Director: Bailey Hubbs | Assistant Director & Stage Manager: Ann Toma-Toader | Producer: Anna Bănică | Assistant Producer: Gréta Ciubuc-Szabó | Composer: Bailey Hubbs | Photographer: Giovanna Wolney
Tickets for our PREMIERE in Berlin at ufaFabrik on March 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th can already be booked via the link in our bio.