"This is a ghost story,
Technology has conquered death,
but with endless future
comes endless past."
Altered Carbon, Netflix
«WE SHALL NOT EVEN KNOW THAT WE HAVE MET. YET MEET WE SHALL, AND PART, AND MEET AGAIN. WHERE DEAD MEETS, ON LIPS OF LIVING MEN »
The Norwegian theater tradition "spel" (or spiele or play) is situated outdoors and is characterized by (an interaction) with nature and a plot interweaving historical events, myths, folklore, and the supernatural. It could be described as a soup cooked by local theater groups, spiced up with some professionals (of your preferred choice), and served in the period of June-August. This tradition has formed the ground from which I make and think about theater, a hybrid form with eclectic aesthetics.
The performance uses costumes as a medium and technology in the tradition of Marshall McLuhan: "The wheel is an extension of the foot. The book is an extension of the eye, clothing extension of the skin and electric circuitry, and extension of the central nervous system». If binoculars are like an extension of the eye, it is not only about how we influence and build tools but also just as much about how the tools influence us and become an extension of us. Costumes investigate what and how the body in the world can be and is directly affected by what we dress in.
Carnival is the purest form of costume. Mikhail Bakhtin writes carnival in a long and rich historical foundation in the genre of old Menippean satire in Ancient Greece. Where earthly differences dissolve in the underworld; emperors lose their crowns and meet on equal terms with beggars.
A tower frames the performance. The Tower is one of the most powerful and enigmatic cards in most Italian-suited Tarot decks, embodying themes of upheaval, transformation, and the power of destruction. The Tower represents the forces of change that can strike suddenly and without warning, disrupting our lives and leaving us reeling in its wake. This installation/performance/rehearsal/costume play is a material formulation of this constant tension between stability and instability.
The project will be presented as the Norwegian contribution at the Prague Quadrennial 2023 and later in Oslo.
With: Alf Ollett, Runa Borch Skolseg, Alma Bø, Mariama Slåttøy, Daniel Frikstad, Alexandra Tveit, Tuva Aanensen, Piotr Chrzanowski, Guoste Tamulynaite, Simon Asencio, Sigrid Lerche & Fredrik Floen.
Dramaturge: Sodja Lotker
Curator committee from Norske Scenografer:
Anette Werenskiold, Anna Granberg, Christine Lohre & Ingeborg Olerud
The project is supported by The Norwegian Art Council, The City of Oslo, STIKK.
Photos : julie hrnčířová
