An interlude

In Passage Nord's catalogue the following is written about An interlude:

"The source of inspiration for the performance is, among other things, the changes that took place at Aker's Mechanical Workshop and Yard in 1986. Materials and objects are picked up in the area. A stand-by theatre that steps in at short notice says something about the reality of its moment. Three people have experienced a demolition, they collect the fragments, wait, seek each other's company, reminisce and prepare to start anew. An aggression directed at themselves and the others. A rumbling thunder of sound effects alternates with total stillness. Slides of machinery parts with captions such as: Intensity, Sensitivity are projected on the actor's bodies. A mechanical culture in which man is in transit. Fragments of European and Eastern cultures are strewn freely about. Connections without a purpose and destination. Actions become images. That which never happened disintegrates. Lights are fastened to the actor's bodies through metal tubes with light bulbs at the end; thus the light follows the movements. A woman's body shakes all over, because she has an electric drill in her hands, while The Residents belt out James Brown's hit This is a man's world. A woman measures the body of a man with a lot of wooden rulers. The women pass by in the background on a wooden bridge with metal funnels and wooden drawers on their heads, the carry straw with old photos in it. The man pours marble dust out of an Eros head. Women, their hair falling over their faces, cut the air with red garden shears. The costumes are burnt men's suits turned inside out. Dust is thrown up so that it covers the entire stage and the actors brush each other with long, black brushes."

Music: The Residents, Minimal Compact, The Swans

An interlude was performed at The Arts Festival of North Norway and Black Box Teater (Oslo).

Sources:

Buresund, Inger og Anne-Britt Gran (red.) (1996). Frie grupper og Black Box Teater. 1970-1995. Oslo: ad Notam Gyldendal

Catalogue, PASSAGE NORD 1986-1996. Kjetil Skøien, performance, installation. Donated by: Kjetil Skøien, May 2010. Translation: Ruth Waaler.