Born in Liverpool, I’m a writer/actor, with roots in dance, fringe theatre, comedy and performance art.

Via a Laban movement and dance training and radical theatre immersion at Oval House initiated by visionary artistic founder Peter Oliver, I worked as an actor with experimental theatre companies in the 70s and 80s, creating myriad, comic characters for TV, stage and radio.

I founded theatre company Ship of Fools to develop and tour my own cabaret productions including  the multi-dance extravaganza: Sympathetic Magic.

In fact, fiction and drama I have written about my post-war, radical Russian/Jewish/Liverpudlian heritage. Other published work for print and radio includes non-fiction books, short stories, poetry and sketches. I’m currently working on a memoir on my life in dance: The Stretch and Criminal, a comedy drama. As a freelance arts education journalist, I was Dance Editor of TES and Health Editor for City Limits.

My dance, theatre, comedy and journalism background influenced me when I was setting up Vital Sparks workshops. These have been helping people from all walks of life develop their confidence and interview skills. They have been highly successful in helping people find meaningful work and make creative changes in their lives: www.vitalsparks.co.uk.

As compère, I’ve worked with writers, actors and poets to deliver their work to audiences at bookshops, festivals, jazz nights and cabarets. I currently work as a writer, actor and Vital Sparks coach.

Interviews: https://tinoorsini.podbean.com/ (2018) http://www.unfinishedhistories.com/interviews/interviewees-a-e/norma-cohen/.   

Member of Equity, NUJ and English PEN

ERIC SANDERS AT 100: trailer (2020)

My interview with Viennese Jewish emigre Eric Sanders: composer, pianist, teacher, soldier, crime novelist and antifascist, filmed by Roger Schindler played JW3 in NW3 (Dec 2020), will play the Rio Cinema, Dalston and an event for the Association of Jewish Refugees, both in early 2021, with live Q&A celebrating a remarkably prolific centenarian.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m2-4oAJmio&feature=youtu.be

Photo left: Leszek Halasa

with thanks to Frog Morris @ Purple Network