Nora Helmer is caught. She was keeping a secret from her husband — one intended to help him, and when he finds out, she is chastised unmercifully. After receiving criticism from her spouse, the young mother makes a bold move in Henrik Ibsen’s turn of the century play, “A Doll’s House.”

“When I first read the play, I thought the play was more about women’s rights,” but with subsequent study, Stacie Schrader, who is playing the role of Nora Helmer, said she realized the play really focuses on marriage.

Schrader is a regular performer for the Westside Theater Foundation, which will be presenting the three-act play that opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Strand Theatre, 717 Clay St.

Schrader said it was WTF founder, Jack Burns, who first approached her about playing the leading female role, and she initially did not like the character but eventually grew to appreciate Nora.

“She seemed like this silly girl, but as I got into it, I realized she was really kind of calculating and determined,” Schrader said.

Though the play was written more than a century ago, Schrader said conflicts can be seen in Nora’s marriage that are still relevant today.

“A Doll’s House,” Schrader said, is based on the true account of a woman by the name of Laura Peterson, and according to the preface in the script, Ibsen met Peterson in 1871, eight years before writing his play.

Ibsen learns of the tragic turns Peterson’s life took and even wrote in his notes, “A woman cannot be herself in modern society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess female conduct from a male standpoint.”

In addition to Friday’s performance, “A Doll’s House” will run at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and April 8 and 9.

Advance tickets are $10 at the Highway 61 Coffeehouse and $15 at the door.

Jim Biendenbach will take on the leading male role of Torvald Helmer. Other leading characters include Dr. Rank, played by Burns, Kristine Linde, played by Kat Hilderbrand, and Nils Krogstad, played by Paul Bennett. Burns is also serving as the director of the play.