Tonight :-)
Tonight :-)(1994) was a production by Baktruppen. Tonight :-) took use of technological innovation. It was interactive and used the internet and messages received via a computer to keep the narrative moving. The audience sat on the floor on a total of 250 square meters of Persian carpets.
Information
(Objekt ID 10363)| Object type | Production |
| Premiere | September 28, 1994 |
| Produced by | Baktruppen |
| Coproducers | Kampnagel International Summer Festival, , Hebbel am Ufer, BIT Teatergarasjen |
| Audience | Adults |
| Number of events | 22 |
| Keywords | Performance, Post-dramatic theatre, Theatre, Multidisciplinary, Multimedia, Ambient theatre |
| Running period | September 28, 1994 — March 17, 1996 |
| Website | Baktruppen |
Tonight :-) by Baktruppen worked as a hypertext, that is, a text with active links within the text, about its own performance. The themes of Tonight were industry (the history of the Kampnagel factory), technology, time and memory. The text was constantly twisted and the words changed. The performers were dressed in evening gowns. They used a mix of electronic and acoustic music, with an accordion and other instruments, and they made their own songs.
Baktruppen says the following about the production: "As the first Nordic theatre company Baktruppen took use of the internet, and by discussing the partly ridiculously naive future visions of the internet public, plus further developing the hacker jargon in the way of parody, they could all of a sudden recognise the mentality of the working class culture of the beginning of the 20th century, hidden behind the curtain of history."
In the program for Electra96 the following could be read:
"Baktruppen soon is better known in Europe than at home. In TONIGHT III we are connected to the internet, and during the whole performance lays the opportunity to be connected to 30 million people, as a trembling undertone. Messages keep coming in from the internet, being captured and integrated in the performance. The musical antics of TONIGHT III make up a story of their own. Have to be experienced! Welcome to the global village, in which Norway is in Brainscape, a part of Freudland, - and brains are wetware."
Baktruppen produced three productions under the Tonight:-) umbrella: Tonight:-), Tonight:-) II and Tonight III
Tonight :-) was supported by the Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs/MFA.
Sources:
Baktruppen, 03.01.2011, http://www.baktruppen.org/
Baktruppens arkiv. Giver: Baktruppen. 04.03.2011.
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Tone Avenstroup | – Co-creator |
| Erik Balke | – Co-creator |
| Øyvind Berg | – Co-creator |
| Trine Falch | – Co-creator |
| Gisle Frøysland | – Co-creator |
| Ingvild Holm | – Co-creator |
| Jørgen Knudsen | – Co-creator |
| Gurå Mathiesen Bjørre | – Co-creator |
| Clay Shirky | – Co-creator |
| Bo Krister Wallström | – Co-creator |
| Worm Winther | – Co-creator |
| Electra '96 | March 16, 1996 |
| Nordisk Scenekunst mot Tusenårsskiftet | January 10, 1996 |
| The Theatre Festival in Kongsvinger | April 29, 1995 |