Dear Young Vic: a snapshot of a year in letters

Dear Young Vic,
Nora was the first show I had ever performed under your roof and it
was an HONOUR.
And to work there under Black leadership was a comfort I have never
really experienced.
When we were suddenly stopped, I didn’t get to say goodbye to my
cast, as I was in isolation in a dressing room upstairs. I waited alone up
there, while my fellow cast got briefed in the auditorium, all the while
pinging me WhatsApps to keep me up to speed.
It was weird. I then had 5mins to dash to the dressing room, grab my
stuff and go home. To isolate. Goodbye Nora.
Then followed a year of disappearing into the countryside with my
daughter. We homeschooled, walked for miles everyday, ran, I sat up
till the early hours chatting with my dad. We healed neglected wounds. I
found meaning that wasn’t centered around work. Which I’m so glad I
was forced to do.
But Theatre is one of those valuable tools that must not be lost. Putting
its potential power into words reduces it. A play can change your mind
about a thing you thought you knew. And let’s face it, we need to keep
learning. We need to keep being forced to look at the world through
someone else’s eyes. Someone who is less able to speak, or who gets
shut down.
I look forward to getting back to that.
One Love,
Amaka Okafor, Cast of Nora: A Doll's House
Amaka Okafor in Nora: A Doll's House by Stef Smith,
with Design by Tom Piper. Photo (c) Marc Brenner