Teater Joker

At the centre of Teater Joker's work process is the creative performer, something which is also a distinct trait of the company's performances. Teater Joker explores stage expressions which are easy to tour with.

The company was founded by and is still managed by director and actor Niels Peter Underland.

As of 2010 Teater Joker consists of Underland, Guri Glans, Kari Ramnefjell and Haakon Strøm. The different productions of the company have toured Norway with The Cultural Rucksack. For instance the production Trillefolket* (The Rolling People) was performed 255 times, watched by more than 30 000 children. The company also has performed in Black Box Teater and The Open Theatre (Det Åpne Teater, now Dramatikkens Hus). 

Ever since the beginning Teater Joker has made performances for children and youth, always based on the creative actor in a meeting with a story and the audience. Even though Teater Joker has collaborated with playwrights who has written for the company on commission (Brothers by Silje Vethal [2004] and A Hundred Rooms by Jesper Halle [2007]), most of all adaptations of stories for children have characterised the work of the company. The fairytale about Rich Per, Tore Renberg’s books Hando Kjendo, illustrated by Hiorthøy (1999), and Trillefolket* (The Rolling People), illustrated by Per Dybvig (2002) and Tutomaten (2008) are examples of the latter. An explanation for this preference for adapting already existing works is related to Teater Joker’s acting style and narrative expression.

In many of its productions the company uses the theatrical, excess-characterised acting style cartoon mime. Cartoon mime is characterised by being based in an empty room and the body's opportunities. The performers create everything that happens in the narrative and make, at one and the same time, sound images, stage design and characters. The expression uses techniques we recognise from the movies, such as slow motion, overview vistas, fast forward, close-ups and stills. The company also uses masks and puppets.

Source:

Teater Joker, teaterjoker.no, 07.12.2010, http://www.teaterjoker.no/Teater_Joker/Nyheter/Nyheter.html

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