About the Play
Meet the Helmers, the couple-next-door everyone wants to be like. Torvald is out working all day, Nora keeps the home running and raises their two children. Everything about their life is almost picture-perfect. But appearances can be deceiving and the life Nora built may not be as secure as it seems.
When her old friend Kristine Linde returns to town looking for more than just a new job, old choices start resurfacing. Meanwhile, quiet visits from the ailing Dr. Rank take on a weight neither of them has been ready to face. And looming over it all is Krogstad, a man with every reason to see Nora’s carefully kept world come apart.
As the pressure builds, Nora is forced to confront a secret she has carried for years, and a question she has never let herself ask: how much of herself has she been performing for the people who love her, and what happens when she stops?
Director: Ellie Sellmann
Ellie has been passionate about theatre and music since primary school. A Frankfurt native, she earned her undergraduate degree in Drama Studies and English from JGU Mainz many years ago. Since 2024. she has worked backstage in FEST as a Co-Producer for People Like Us Don’t Kill and as Costumes Manager for Pygmalion.
On stage, she has been part of two FEST productions (Musical Interludes and Almost, Maine) so far. This year, she is serving on the FEST Committee as Treasurer and also had the opportunity to be one of the Assistant Directors for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).
Outside of theatre, she works in the education sector and is passionate about writing and building a community of like-minded creatives. A first-time director, Ellie is excited about this opportunity and wants to express her gratitude for working with such a talented cast and backstage team.
Assistant Director – Pieter van der Ploeg
Pieter made his stage debut during his studies in English language and culture in Amsterdam, where he performed in A Streetcar Named Desire and other self-written plays. After a long break from theatre, he returned in 2024 for the FEST production of The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov.
Since then Pieter has been involved with FEST in many different ways, such as a stage manager for Pygmalion and as an actor in Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest. Now Pieter is assisting Ellie with bringing her vision for A Doll’s House to life.
Cast
Hana Ennis as Emmy
Tomáš Ennis as Ivar
Dinara Bammatkhanova as Nora Helmer
Dinara grew up with a love for classical literature and acting in her hometown of Moscow, Russia, where she performed in several plays and poetry recitals. She received her Bachelor of Science at the innovative Minerva University in San Francisco and got to live in Seoul, Hyderabad, Berlin, Buenos Aires, London, and New York. Having recently put down her roots in Frankfurt, she spends most of her time running her social media business, creating a local community, learning German, and making the city her home.
Looking for a new meaning in her life, Dinara decided to reignite her passion for theater by taking online courses at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). She is absolutely thrilled to be making her FEST debut and stepping onto the stage once again!
Thomas Dewitz as Torvald Helmer
Thomas was born in Cologne and started acting as a teenager when he acted in a theatre adaptation of Michael Ende’s Momo. Over the years, he played anything from butlers and bakers to French tourists and Roman emperors in various productions including Oliver Twist or Hôtel des deux mondes. He made his first journeys into English theatre with the group “Trier English Drama” when he was a student in the mid-2010s as a part of The Importance of being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Living and working in Frankfurt since 2023, he found the wonderful people from FEST who gave him a new home for his passion for acting and his love for the stage.
Hannah Oberste-Brandenburg as Kristine Linde
Hannah has loved theatre for as long as she can remember. She first stepped onto the stage with her local youth theatre group and was instantly hooked. There, she performed in productions such as Alice in Wonderland and Beauty and the Beast. After graduating, she kept performing whenever she had the chance. One of her personal highlights was playing a bug in Die Schöpfung.
This is Hannah’s first production with FEST, and she couldn’t be more excited!
Henry Angeles as Nils Krogstad
Originally from the Philippines, Henry discovered his love for theatre during college, where he began behind the scenes with his university’s repertory theatre. After moving to Germany, he stepped onto the stage, appearing as a slave in Othello, serving as a jump-in performer as one of the Queen’s bodyguards in Shakespeare in Love, and performing as a forest creature in Das Schlaue Füchslein in Mainz. He is delighted to join FEST’s production of A Doll’s House as Nils Krogstad, his preferred role during auditions. A fan of musicals such as Les Misérables, Jesus Christ Superstar, Dear Evan Hansen, High School Musical, and The Greatest Showman, he is excited to continue growing as a performer.
Artemis Rose Grey as Dr. Rank
Artemis has dreamed of being on stage since they were a child. Unfortunately, just the thought of performing gave them nightmares for years, but at 33 they finally worked through their stage fright, and since then, they’ve had a fulfilling journey with an incredibly warm and welcoming theater group. This is Artemis’ third theatre production with FEST, and they are oddly excited to play the sarcastic and morbid Doctor Rank for a variety of reasons: Artemis is no stranger to morbid sarcasm themself, they’re looking forward to saying, “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on stage,” and, most importantly, they’re grateful for the chance to hone their thespian skills alongside such a dedicated and talented cast and crew.
Alison Schmitt as Anne-Marie
Alison is an Australian living with her (mostly) German family in Germany.
She has loved acting and being on the stage her whole life and has always been the one to volunteer for sketches at school or church. She has been on the stage in dance and singing groups, but this is her first real theatre piece. She is excited to fulfill her childhood dream!
In her spare time she works as a high school teacher, hangs out with her family and is involved in her church.
Crew
Producers:
Saagar Unadkat
Saagar is originally from Mumbai, India, and has spent the last 16 years on the move, making his way from Indiana to Ann Arbor to Mainz before finally settling in Frankfurt in 2020. After years of keeping things grounded in engineering and project management, he jumped into the deep end with improv theatre in early 2024, which led to a cameo as a very still corpse in FEST’s The Unexpected Guest in March 2026. Life had other plans for that one, but the theatre bug was firmly caught.
As a Program Manager by trade, Saagar realized his obsession with timelines, logistics, and bringing teams together translated nicely to producing, so when the opportunity came up to help bring A Doll’s House to life, he jumped at it. He’s thrilled to be part of making this production happen and can’t wait to see this powerful story unfold and move the audience.
Ružica Vrbat
Ružica was eight when she first felt a spark for performing arts dancing on stage in her hometown’s cultural centre in Croatia. Shortly after, she also joined the local youth theatre, where her on-stage career as an actress continued until her relocation to Germany in 2017. Since then, she has been soaking up the local theatre scene, continuing dance classes, and participating in Frankfurt’s improvisational theatre workshops.
Since joining FEST in 2023, portraying Jenny in Old Saybrook (2024) marked Ružica’s FEST acting debut and her return to the spotlight after a long break from the stage. Behind the scenes, she has contributed as a makeup artist for Death of a Salesman (2023), GasLight and Rabbit Hole (2024), and Almost, Maine (2025). Her confidence within FEST grew through producing work on The Realistic Joneses (2025) and she now serves as Producer for A Doll’s House. Her love for theatre and dedication to the company have only deepened with each production, and as of 2026, she brings that same passion to the FEST Board as Secretary.
Stage Manager: Fabienne Sellmann
Assistant Stage Manager: Parv Shroff
Set Design Lead: Isabel Bohlman
Set Design Assistant: Dhanush Nadavattira
Props Manager: Hazem Ellessawy
Lighting Designer: Ellie Sellmann and Martha Reece
Sound Designer: Ellie Sellmann
Tech Operator: Dhanush Nadavattira
Costumes Designer: Stela Dujmović
Costumes Assistant: Marisa Lange
Hair and Makeup Artists: Ružica Vrbat, Gulmira Jumayeva, Marija Dumančić
Choreographer: Carlos Díaz
Intimacy Coordinator: Varvara Pomoni
Photographers: Jimmy Liu,Renata Jaroscakova
Videographers: Corrine Chan, Ružica Vrbat
With special thanks to our sponsor:
