ICON - International Contemporary Stage Programme

At the webpage of The National Theatre the following, among other things, is written about ICON:

"New and old icons
– Every decade a name that will remain standing shows up. Each of the productions presented during the ICON platform has been made by people who broke through in each their decade. Elisabeth Lecompte and The Wooster Group broke through during the 70es/80es - the audience of The National Theatre will be meeting them come autumn (2011, Sceneweb's comment). Romeo Castellucci broke through during the 80es/90es, and Gisèle Vienne's name is remaining after the first decade of the 2000s.

Mix of genre and non-hierarchical dramaturgy
Curator Sven Åge Birkeland asks us to put away the idea of theatre as literature, to open all senses.

- This will be a unique chance for the audience of The National Theatre to be brought up to date on what is happening in the field of contemporary performing arts, says the curator for the ICON platform, Sven Åge Birkeland, who is normally the artistic director of BIT Teatergarasjen in Bergen. With ICON the audience may discover a new theatrical world of grand visual experiences, theatre concerts and other surprising genres, perhaps not so familiar. ICON aims to introduce historical highlights, modern theatre innovators, influential companies and directors within a theatre tradition with roots back to the visual arts community, rather than the ancient amphi theatre and the Norwegian Ibsen tradition.

- But the performances don't just address the theatre audience, rather an audience interested in arts in general: People who care for visual arts and music may enjoy this a lot. In these theatre performances music and image are as central as text."

ICON is arranged every second year, and in the years in between The National Theatre arranges The Ibsen Festival.

I 2011 ICON presented This is How You Will Disappear by Gisèle Vienne, The Minister's Black Veil by Romeo Castellucci, and Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carré by legendary The Wooster Group. In 2013 the programme included Miranda after Shakespeare's The Tempest by Oskaras Koršunovas Teater, Lucia's Chapters of Coming Forth by Day by The National Theatre and The Theatre of Cruelty in collaboration with Mabou Mines, and Heracles Oder Die Hydra by Heiner Müller, directed, choreographed and with stage design by Johannes Dahl.

Source:

The National Theatre, nationaltheatret.no, 26.02.2013, http://www.nationaltheatret.no/Nationaltheateret/Festival/ICON_International_Contemporary_Stage_Programme/