Highlights: Black Box Marstrand Festival (Norway)

Gisèle Vienne (FR)
I Apologize

«I Apologize» was born out of an accident reconstruction. This reconstruction is the basis from which derive several versions of the same event, in order to define its truth and reality. These various versions take on a blurred identity, somewhere between the representation of a real event and the representation of a fantasy, and are the foundation of the structure of the play, a reflection on reality, and of the possible representations of reality.

A young man is in charge of these different versions of reality, by directing a man and a woman, both baroque and rock icons, and twenty-odd young girls, all aged around twelve, represented by articulated dolls. Confusion slowly creeps in our perception of reality, which thus appears as a world of approximations and subjectivity, whose gaping holes we fill with our own fantasies.

American author Dennis Cooper has written poems and monologues especially for this show, which question the real or imagined link between those and the events happening on the stage. Cooper himself will be reading these texts, which are intricately linked to Peter Rehberg’s musical score. The texts and staging of the play interact and conjure up images associated to sexual desire, death and crime. They raise issues about imagination in relation to fantasy and its impossible fulfilment.

Although music and words are at the core of the show, it is bodies and dolls that ultimately form the centre of the project. This is why this show, although undeniably influenced by choreography, is nonetheless derived from a work process that is truly one of a puppeteer. This work is designed to be an exploration of the emotions associated with the intricate link between eroticism, death, and the disturbing stillness of dolls and puppets.

Namik Mackic
Salting the tail

Salting the Tail takes place on two levels: A film essay centered around eight young actors and a director as they prepare a production, and a chain of operations on stage where the actors’ interaction with different materials results in an ever-changing, hypnothizing landscape. Between these layers is the basis for a story that starts to take form, simultaneously being under attack from back entrances and side doors.

a smith
all that is solid melts into air

Theatre and performance maker a smith brings his new solo work to this years’ MARSTRAND festival. Using his trademark simple, conversational performance style, the work looks to contemplate our ever changing world and think a bit about the effects of the way we live today. «all that is solid has melted into air» is a gentle meditation on existence, a quiet protest for the strange world we live in, a 50 minute break from what’s happening outside. It’s a plea for some humanity. A search for what we can do. You and me. Us. Together. Here and now.

Since 2001 Andy Smith has been making theatre and performance work as a smith, most recently creating the solo works «innvandrer» and «the next two days of everything». He is also the co-director of the award winning plays «England, An Oak Tree» and «The Author» by Tim Crouch.

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