Nora Armani: Actress, Director, Keeper of Armenian Memory

Every Armenian family has a story about the child who wanted something the family didn't quite understand. For Nora Armani, that something was the stage. Her grandmother enrolled her in AGBU Cairo the day she was born; by her teens she was directing her cousins in homemade productions and casting herself as the lead. What followed took her from Cairo to London, Los Angeles, Paris, and New York — and, through her work, back to Armenia itself. This is the story of how a determined girl from the Cairo diaspora became one of the most versatile Armenian artists of her generation.

Early Life and Education

            Nora Armani was born in Giza, Egypt and attended the Nubarian Armenian School in Cairo.  Her grandmother, Marie Ekserdjian, was heavily involved in the AGBU Cairo chapter in the 1960’s and signed Nora up as a member at the time of her birth.  As a teenager Nora played basketball with the AGBU group.  However she displayed an interest in the performing arts early on and staged performances at home giving her cousins acting roles while she directed and played the lead. Eventually her family began to question her choice of artistic work but she remained determined to pursue an acting career as she was also inspired by the Egyptian Cinema.  Her first performance was on the stage of the Armenian Cultural Club in Cairo.

            Nora studied at the American University in Cairo where she obtained a BA degree and  then traveled to UK to attend the London School of Economics where she obtained a Master Degree with the help of an AGBU Scholarship and a Gulbenkian Foundation grant.  While in England she performed in George Bernard Shaws play “Arms and the Man”.

The afternoon of Sunday, November 21, 2021 saw a black box theatre in Theatre Row on 42nd Street filled with a joyful, supportive and engaged crowd to watch Nora Armani return to the stage in her one-woman show “Back on the Couch with Nora Armani.” - Read more at: https://en.aravot.am/2021/12/04/294523/
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Nora comes to America

After graduation Nora traveled to Los Angeles and made her debut in the NBC series “St. Elsewhere”.  She also performed at the Los Angeles Theatre center.  She continued to train at the UCLA Extension and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and many workshops to perfect her acting career.  She was cast in plays directed by her future husband, Gerald Papasian with whom she created a two-person play, “Sojourn at Ararat”.  Nora and Gerald left Los Angeles and went to Paris to continue their acting careers.  She began to show her creative talents by performing her one-woman show “On the Couch with Nora Armani” in French.

            Soon after Nora went to New York where she appeared in television shows, namely “Golden Boy” and “The Blacklist: Redemption”and on stage in “Six Characters in Search of an Author” and many more.  In 2021 Nora directed “iMigrant Woman” a 36 minute film which earned her the award of Best Female Director of a Short Film at the Toronto Independent Film Festival.  She also directed a play “Dreams on Fire” by Jan Balakian – a docudrama about a college student who finally learns of his grandmother’s escape from the Armenian Genocide.

Awards

Nora Armani has the unique ability to bring stories to life in a multicultural and multilingual manner as she is fluent in Armenian, Egyptian Arabic, English and French.  She divides her time between New York and Paris.  Her Directorial work includes William Saroyan’s “Papa You’re Crazy”, “Sojourn at Ararat”, Thornton Wilders “Bernice”, “Snowflakes in April” and many more.  She has two Drama-Logue awards for Performance and Creation for Sojourn at Ararat, Best Performance and Creation (Armenia), and Best Actress in film for Labyrinth (Armenia).

Nora is an Honorary Member of the National Theatre of Armenia.

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