Our History

OUR HISTORY:

In November-December 2015, with our critically acclaimed production of Rose, Nora’s Playhouse invited you into the Hyannis Port home of Kennedy matriarch Rose Kennedy as played in a fabulous solo turn by Tony-nominee Kathleen Chalfant (nominated for Drama Desk, Outer Circle and United Solo awards for her outstanding performance in Rose).

In July 2018, we produced the world premiere of whatdoesfreemean? by Catherine Filloux, about an incarcerated woman whose refusal to tolerate the fatal medical neglect of her best friend lands her in solitary confinement. The story traces Mary’s journey through incarceration to release, including interludes of flashbacks and hallucinations while in isolation. The production garnered both positive reviews and a New York
Innovative Theatre Award nomination for the lead actress, Lisa Strum.

We are currently developing Ashes & Ink by Martha Pichey a play about grief, addiction, and a mother’s love.

In September 2016, our long-term vision of including educational theatre outreach to teenage girls became a reality with our inaugural session of The Nora Project: Women Write.  The Nora Project is an intergenerational project taking place at Lanier High School in Montgomery, AL. Over ten weeks, teenage girls and elder (60+) women explored the art of storytelling though theatrical writing and performance techniques.  In the process of telling their stories to women of another generation,  important “gaps” were bridged.  After getting to know each other and sharing their life stories,  each participant was tasked with writing a 10-minute play inspired by something she heard in her intergenerational partner’s story.  The Nora Project culminated on December  8, 2016 when experienced local actors read these original scripts on the stage at Lanier High School in front of a live audience.  In the spring of 2018, The Nora Project was back for a second session.

In January 2017, we expanded our outreach to women playwrights to include The Nora Salon. This is a monthly opportunity for playwrights to hear their work read aloud in a casual setting, while offering Nora’s supporters an inside look at how plays get from page to stage. In 2019, we established Salon South, an offshoot of The Nora Salon hosted bi-monthly in Montgomery, Alabama, the home town of our Artistic Director Caroline Reddick Lawson.

The three founders of Nora’s Playhouse, Caroline Reddick Lawson, Yasmine Beverly Rana and Emily J. Richard, worked together in New York City theatre since 2003. Nora’s 2009-2010 inaugural season was the realization of their long-nurtured dream for this theatre company.