| Title | File type | Publiseringsdato | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| Article by Elisabeth Leinslie in the Black Box Theater's autumn program 2005 about Balteatret og Verk Produksjoner | August 2005 | Download |
The Duck Variations
The Duck Variations (2003) was a performance by Verk Produksjoner AKA Verk Productions.
Information
(Objekt ID 1942)| Object type | Production |
| Premiere | October 1, 2003 |
| Produced by | Verk Produksjoner |
| Based on | The Duck Variations by David Mamet |
| Audience | Youth, Adults (from 16) |
| Language | Norwegian and Swedish |
| Keywords | Theatre, Drama, Physical theatre |
| Running period | October 1, 2003 — February 16, 2008 |
| Duration | 1 hour |
Requirements to venue
| Minimum stage width | 8m |
| Minimum stage depth | 8m |
| Minimum stage height | 3m |
| Blackout | Yes |
| Rigging time | 60 minutes |
| Downrigging time | 45 minutes |
| Audience | 200 |
In The Duck Variations by David Mamet/Verk Produksjoner AKA Verk Productions two men are sitting on a bench in a park. The conversation appears to be about the sex lives of ducks, but soon they reveal their thoughts about laws of nature, friendship and death. The material is light and fragmented; the two voices as one.
Verk took Mamet's stage directions seriously and cultivated the simple and direct in The Duck Variations. Everything was cut down to the essential; the presence and the meeting between two persons, as between the actors, the audience and the text, accompanied by jazz music.
The venue was a white rectangle/a white floor, a ring of light circling large parts of the white surface. On each side of the ring of light stood two salon chairs from the 1970es, and back, to the left, was a screen with slides of ducks – later in the performance there is also a slide show at the backdrop in the middle, towards a half-dry branch and some green balloons. Lights in green, white, yellow, pink, blink calmly at the rear part of the stage.
(...)
Platou (sound) sits on the left side, outside of the white floor.
The men keep changing shirts, seemingly at the start of a new variation. The acting style was a mix of physical and epic style.
Sources:
The Open Theatre (Det Åpne Teater), detapneteater.no, 26.10.2010, http://www.detapneteater.no/pub/daat/forestillinger/?aid=579&cid=17&sac=all&viewall=1#daat
Verk Produksjoner, verkproduksjoner.no, 12.08.2010, http://verkproduksjoner.no/
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| David Mamet | – Playwright |
| Fredrik Hannestad | – Stage design |
| Anders Mossling | – Stage design |
| Joachim Hamou | – Costume design |
| Per Platou | – Sound design |
| Fredrik Hannestad | – Actor |
| Saila Hyttinen | – Actor |
| Anders Mossling | – Actor |
| Saila Hyttinen | – Director’s assistant |
| February 16, 2008 – Hallen, The Open Theatre (Det Åpne Teater) | Show |
| February 15, 2008 – Hallen, The Open Theatre (Det Åpne Teater) | New opening |
| December 10, 2005 – Turbinehallerne | Show |
| October 23, 2005 – Lille scene (Marstrandgata), Black box teater | Show |
| October 22, 2005 – Lille scene (Marstrandgata), Black box teater | New opening |
| July 22, 2005 | Show |
| March 14, 2004 – Høstscena, Ålesund Theatre Festival (Ålesund Theatre Festival) | Show |
| October 28, 2003 – Teaterhuset Avant Garden | Show |
| October 27, 2003 – Teaterhuset Avant Garden | Show |
| October 4, 2003 – Parkteatret Scene | Show |
| October 3, 2003 – Parkteatret Scene | Show |
| October 2, 2003 – Parkteatret Scene | Show |
| October 1, 2003 – Parkteatret Scene | National premiere, Norway |
| Ålesund Theatre Festival | March 14, 2004 |
"Philosophical pearls, clichés and meaninglessness phrases are interwoven in a seamless, jolly change of words. Layer is put on layer as in a dream: From duck to human, from hunter to the destiny of the duck, from environmental policies to the bench in the park. (...) We laugh, wonder and try to construct a complete meaning from a musical melting pot of small talk. The experience of not understanding is absurd, serious and laughter-provoking. They strive, we laugh of their striving. Just like that is life."
Frida Holsten Gullestad
"In an understated, humorous manner the two by the pond seek for meaning and truth. And indeed, they try to defy gravity! (...) They give us a low-key, quiet and warm performance which is pretty trivial on the outside, but with a subtext feeding endless associations and after-thoughts."
Amund Grimstad. Klassekampen