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LAHORE: Samina Peerzada, a household name of film and television, will be the guest of honour at the opening event of the National Library of Norway’s exhibition exploring Henrik Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ -- the world’s most performed theatre play.

Speaking to Dawn on being honoured to represent Pakistan in Norway on Tuesday, she thanked the National Library for choosing her from all over the world to inaugurate the exhibition.

Samina Peerzada played Nora, a leading role, in Lahore, Karachi and Oslo from 1992 to 1994. In Oslo, she will meet former director of Norway’s National Theatre and culture minister Ellen Horn in a stage conversation.

A message by the National Library says: “ It is a great pleasure for us to welcome Samina Peerzada to the National Library of Norway. Mrs Peerzada has visited Oslo twice before, when she performed at The International Ibsen Festival in 1994. The Norwegian audience will be thrilled to see her back in Norway, says Head of programming Eline Skaar Kleven”.

She will inaugurate the exhibition on June 9.

A Doll’s House was Ibsen’s 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 programmes, 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.

Originally published in Dawn, June 8th, 2016