Nomak Sordis was the greatest actor you’ve never heard of, despite the fact that was only his stage name. He was a master of costumes, faces, and voices. He could play three different characters on stage at once, and you would never know it was he himself, or that three different actors weren’t playing them. When He played Saretu Kondora from “The Socket.” and He spoke that final line:
“…But despite all this I keep her plugged in, even if she doesn’t work.” And he sets the toaster down and begins eating that raw piece of bread. He conveyed every sense of feeling that man had, wordlessly. I watched him eat that whole loaf of bread while the audience filtered out behind me. I found him after the performance and asked him how he had become such a great actor. He insisted that he was not a great actor, but rather he was Saretu Kondora. Then He offered me a piece of bread. A year later I went to see a staging of “After the Night.” Starring Nomak Sordis as the poet Eilam Cronus. I’m sure you’ve seen the recent filmed version, but it holds nothing to Nomak’s Performance that night. I wish you could have been there to see those silent final wordless moments as He collapses in the skate park with that piece of paper clutched in his hand. I can only imagine what it said. I watched him lay on stage for a good hour and a half before I ran up there to check for a pulse, there wasn’t one. Phenomenal Actor. Another two years went by before I could get back to the city to see him again. I had lost the house, had a hard time finding work, and there were some family problems, but I digress. When I finally made it back it was to see his greatest role, I feel anyway. He starred in “The Writer.” A play about a kid who grows up in Royal Oak, and one day writes a poem about an imaginary actor named Nomak Sordis. I guess I identified with the story, especially as he stared at the screen trying to decide what to type next. I could hear the audience members filing out behind me…