The Memoirs of a Breadman

The background for the collaboration was a handful of short texts, called The Memoirs of a Breadman, written by Johan Harstad during a cold winter day in 2003. Using these as a foundation Harstad, Håkon Mathias Vassvik and Bjørn Erik Haugen wanted to examine the possibilities within a collaboration project using three different artistic expressions.

About the production one could read the following on the webpage of Black Box Teater:

"Ragged notes. The Mexican Alps. Damp socks. Sewage. Rats. Alligators in New York. A tone-deaf Ukrainian. An unhygienic sewage master. A crocodile man. A fatally dangerous baker. A bookkeeper with an undecided relation to his own sexuality. A daughter with a chronic cold. A matron filled of 196 kilos of raw love. And a ton of problems and an unknown amount of wheat flour.

(...)

The Memoirs of a Breadman is a theatre production examining the monologue as expression, mixed with classic drama, visual audio play, sound effects and video, led by characters with a tendency for overly positive thinking, self-deceiving, undecided sexualities, twisted images of reality, lack of hygiene and an ambivalent position on Beckett, Kafka and the other grumblers."

The reading took place over a full evening with two breaks. During the first interval warm food was served. Besides a sculpture made of bread was placed in the foyer of Black Box Teater.

On Wikipedia one finds the following information about the three parts constituting The Memoirs of a Breadman:

Part 1: Akapulco (Sic) is a mono drama/visual audio play. The text consists of 11 diary entries written in English, penned by a person called The Breadman (Barker), plus fragments, similar to diary entries, recited by a nameless character who clearly has knowledge of the notes of the breadman. The play is characterised by absurd elements and can also be said to be related to texts by Kafka.

A test performance was performed in Atelier Nord in Oslo in August 2007. Participators: Håkon M. Vassvik (actor/reciter), Bjørn Erik Haugen (video/sound), Johan Harstad (light).

Part 2: As in The Memoirs of a Breadman part 1: Akapulco the title of Ellis Iland also is misspelled. In this play the audience meets several of the characters of Akapulco anew, but the action has been moved 40-50 years back in time, and takes place in New York City in the years of 1905-1916.

A test performance of a two hour long excerpt from the play was performed in Podium, Hausmania in Oslo in August 2009. A thirty minute long excerpt was performed as a staged reading in Rogaland Theatre, January 2010.

Participators, Hausmania:
Håkon M. Vassvik (Mr. Barker and others)
Marika Enstad (Mrs. Martinez and others)
Bjørn Erik Haugen (sound effects/video)
Johan Harstad (sound/lighting)

Participators, Rogaland Theatre:
Vegar Hoel (Mr. Barker)
Sally Nilsson (Mrs. Martinez)
Svein Harry Schöttker Hauge (Stoklitsky)
Even Stormoen (Barker’s father)
Gretelill Tangen (Barker’s mother)

Part 3: Mattrhorn (sic.) The play is technically a dialogue, but the two actors with lines both play the character of the Baker, speaking to himself, which turns the play into some kind of monologue. Mrs. Martinez, who was also in The Memoirs of a Breadman part 1: Akapulco and The Memoirs of a Breadman part 2: Ellis Iland also appears in Mattrhorn, but she has no lines aside from a scream midway into the performance.

The Memoirs of a Breadman was supported by Arts Council Norway, The Audio Visual Fund, The Fund for Performing Artists and Atelier Nord.

Sources:

Black Box Teater, blackbox.no, 30.06.2011, http://www.blackbox.no/content/titlePresentation.php?tid=2079&displayNav=false

Wikipedia, wikipedia.org, 30.06.2011, http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brødmannens_memoarer_del_1:_Akapulco

Wikipedia, wikipedia.org, 30.06.2011, http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brødmannens_memoarer_del_2:_Ellis_Iland

Wikipedia, wikipedia.org, 30.06.2011, http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brødmannens_memoarer_del_3:_Matterhorn

"The Memoirs of a Breadman still has a way to go before it is ready for a stage without manuscript pages. Harstad, Vassvik and Haugen have worked on the material for years, but it is not yet done rising. The Memoirs of a Breadman consists of a good (novel-like) story, nice audio visual effects, various actors’ presentations, lots of determination and a large portion of idleness. While most of new drama goes the direction of one-act plays or short performances without an interval, Harstad, who is also a house playwright in The National Theatre, goes his own ways. The result is expansive and absurd – and it contributes to diversity."

Nystøl, Karen Frøysland (2011, 14.04). Review titled Teater med lang hevetid (literally: Theatre with a long period of rising). NRK, nrk.no, 30.06.2011, http://nrk.no/kultur-og-underholdning/1.7595064

"With The Memoirs of a Breadman Johan Harstad beats the big drum for texts. Where the scenic presentation is minimalist through a sitting staged reading, the language swells to a disgusting, swollen text so rich and overwhelming that it through five hours threatens to wear us all out. It is not hard to follow, but it is tiresome to swallow all the abominations we are served."

Valberg, Anna (2011, 15.04). Review titled Kloakkalligatorer og fet dame rullet i mel (literally: Sewage alligators and a fat lady rolled in flour). Klassekampen [Oslo]. Available online: Rosálie Denata, annavalberg.blogspot.com, 30062011, http://annavalberg.blogspot.com/2011/04/kloakkalligatorer-og-fet-dame-rullet-i.html

"Five hours in the theatre don’t feel long at all. This is a brave production, in choice of expression and material. It is simple and complex, layer upon layer and transparent at the same time, but it carries through. When the light fades the fallen composer Stoklitsky’s melancholic words of departure sound in my ears: Nobody loves a child who doesn’t succeed, and I am thinking that this group has nothing to fear..."

Høgli, Kjersti Posti (2011, 18.04). Review titled Brød til folket. Rotter til resten (literally: Bread for the people. Rats for the rest). Scenekunst, scenekunst.no, 30.06.2011, http://www2.scenekunst.no/egenkritikk_8179.nml