Will cultures connect or collide at the stroke of midnight?
You’re walking home around midnight. It’s dark and the streets are deserted. You’re in a foreign country and your senses are on high alert. Suddenly, from nowhere, a stranger lurches from the shadows.
“Got a light?”
Do you stop?
This is the situation that young Pakistani student Ahmed finds himself in when confronted by the unpredictable and ambiguous ‘great white’ Norm, in this performance of Alex Buzo’s sharp, entertaining and satirical 1960’s classic, Norm and Ahmed.
Fifty-three years since its premiere in Melbourne, Alex Buzo’s tense two hander remains alarmingly relevant, confronting issues of racism, xenophobia, female politics, cultural difference and assimilation. Now is the perfect time to discover, or rediscover, this iconic and pioneering piece of Australian theatre.
This project was supported by the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund — an Australian Government initiative.
Cast
Laurence Coy & Rajan Velu
Creative Team
Directors Aarne Neeme & Terence Clarke
Stage Manager & Production Manager Emma Paterson
Lighting Designer Lucia Haddad
Production Designer Deidre Burgess
Graffiti Artist April Clayton
Producers Grant Dodwell, Peter Hiscock, Raj Sidhu
Associate Producers Lucy Clements & Emma Wright
Production Photography Becky Matthews
Publicity Sean Landis
“A play of theatrical impact… the acting in itself was excellent”
“This Norm and Ahmed is certainly well worth seeing”
“Aarne Neeme and Terence Clarke have done what good directors do, in letting this piece be character driven, without the bells and whistles to distract you from the gut-wrenching scene before you.” ★★★★
“Coy pulls off to a tee with such believability the arrogant warped view of the world and cunning that such a character as Norm, holds… Ahmed’s character, as played by Rajan Velu, bounces off beautifully from Coy’s… The initial caution and reticence of Ahmed to engage with Norm is clearly visible. So is the softening of Ahmed’s guard to fall under Norm’s spell.”
“Coy and Velu had great onstage chemistry, engaging audiences through their journey from strangers to friends to strangers again… Norm and Ahmed is a must-see show”