Tore Vagn Lid/Transiteatret Bergen

Tore Vagn Lid/Transiteatret-Bergen has carried out a series of stage experiments such as Opus 1. The Anatomy of Power (2001), Walk Cat, Walk! (2002/2003) and Maybe it's too nice? (2004) To be continued... (2005/2006), Esse est Percipi and Polyphonia (2007) - all written, developed and directed by Tore Vagn Lid.

The rest of the involved are hired on a per production basis, from a core consisting of twelve professional actors, musicians, stage designers and sound designers from Bergen's and Norway's art, theatre and musical communities.

The recent years Tore Vagn Lid/Transiteatret Bergen has been invited to give guest performances in several European countries, included via the EU financed Junge Hunde Network and the Salzburg Festival (August 2008) as well as initiating co-operations with institutions such as The National Venue of Theatre in Bergen, Rogaland Theatre, BIT Teatergarasjen, BEK, Black Box Theatre, Ibsen Theatre and The Bergen International Festival.

Transiteatret-Bergen funds its activity in part through The Municipality of Bergen and Arts Council Norway, among others. Transiteatret-Bergen is managed by Tore Vagn Lid and producer/actor Tor Christian F. Bleikli.

The following text, MAJOR OBJECTIVE: Relevance: Contemporary theatre with <open windows> is written by director, author and artistic director Tore Vagn Lid:

"The idea that performing arts are like a monad, a particular and self-supplied universe of art production and art communication, is a widespread but yet dangerous self-understanding deeply rooted in Norwegian theatre. The fear of the untimely academic, the intellectual, the prosaic and the unfamiliar to art is an attitude having - however much it can be understood and defended - over time brought Norwegian stage arts to the border zone of the governing public. Rarely - very rarely - does the theatre set the premises for an ethical, esthetical or political discussion. As rarely the theatre takes an equal-footed dialogue role in such on-going discussions, or works as an impulse initiating sociological, psychological or philosophical (fundamental) research. (As a theatre artist one can see oneself more often than not standing with the back to the parentheses the theatre has created around itself.) A curious situation arises when such a shielded (and shielding) stage art yet again after decades of ironic exile will join society in debate and play an important political role. The society of knowledge is now more open than ever. The development of media arts and communication has long ago broken down the artistic cognitive monopolies of the singular high-brow art forms; performing arts are not important, not significant - a priori. Relevance, whether scientific or politically societal - can no longer be claimed or demanded, but has to be proved, step by step, performance after performance.

Such a fundamental ambition for relevance is not just contributing to the decisions about content and form in the coming artistic projects. Further on the objective is as soon as possible to connect the artistic work towards scientific environments in a way that can be genuinely determinant and exchanging in both directions. The ambition is not limited to inviting specific scientists or institutions to a panel, or to make a statement or assist the productions beforehand or after. Moreover, the significance of exchange and relevance is to be understood as if the scenic projects take shape of and part in an on-going, bindingly up-to-date fundamental research; visible in and to a wider public than the one ordinarily focusing on the theatre and the independent experimental stage arts. Exchange on the artistic work's terms, of course, but just as much with an artistic ear as far as possible open for and adjusted to dialogue, confrontation, input from central scientific environments within the media, culture, medical ethics and philosophy/scientific theory. We do not believe that such an ambition for relevance will come at the expense of the artistic autonomy, commitment come to craft or artistic quality, rather the opposite. A sense of relevance is one of the most inspiring and productive ideas an actor, a director or stage designer can experience. In our experience, an open window, commit and motivate both sides. As an extrovert theatre organisation with a close and well-developed net of contacts to central scientific institutions and specific scientists, as well as to major art institutions, we believe Tt-B has the artistic as well as organisational qualifications required to be a catalyst for the stage arts in such a process."

Vagn Lid also has written the following:

THE MUSIC IN THE THEATRE AND THE THEATRE IN MUSIC:

"I have long held, and still hold, a fundamental ambition to create a stage expression in which the synthesis of music and theatre can create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. To achieve this objective, Tt-B puts overriding importance on facilitating a continuous collaboration between the director and the actors/musicians in a work process in which the music is not added to a finished performing expression or vice versa. The stage actors are made conscious of the world of music and become musicians, while the musician becomes aware of and become a performing actor. Such a committed cooperation and continuous working process can, at present, best be achieved within the particular organisational opportunities of the independent stage arts. In several of my latter works I have, together with Tt-B, tried to achieve the synthesis of music and theatre with the minimal use if musical instruments - apart from the actors themselves. This is, in other words, a matter of transferring central musical forms and using them as dramaturgical opening forms on stage."

Operation Almenrausch by Transiteatret-Bergen/Tore Vagn Lid won the Hedda Award 2009 in the category of theatre event of the year.

The Hedda Jury reasoned as follows:

"This category announces a performance that is an event outside of the ordinary! This goes for the winner of the year to a high degree. The original stage concept goes far in breaking down the divide between spectators and performers, technically advanced effects, not immediately connected to the theatre, are used exactly to fortify and develop the theatre as an art form, while the true story being told brings important, well-documented knowledge about a forgotten episode from our near past, while placing important ethical dilemmas in front of the spectator. The production awakens enthusiasm because it succeeds in confounding our notions of what theatre is to be.

The event of the year is Tore Vagn Lid's Operation Almenrausch."

Source:

Transiteatret-Bergen, transiteatret.com, 01.08.2010, http://www.transiteatret.com/Relevans.html

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