The Little Prince

The Little Prince (1980) was a theatre production by Smugteateret, based on the novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The production was performed at Fyllingsdalen Teaterverksted (now: Fyllingsdalen Nye Teater), among other places.

Knut Ove Arntzen and Patricia Vik directed it.

The production was made in three versions. The first was concrete and romantic, the second more abstracted and the third a fusion between the two former. With this production, one of the aims of the company was to examine how much they could abstract a production for children.

Information

(Objekt ID 23991)
Object type Production
Premiere March 15, 1980
Produced by Smugteateret
Based on The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Audience Children (from 5)
Language Norwegian
Keywords Theatre, Performance for children, Masked Theatre
Running period 1980  —  1983
More

SOURCES:

Birthe-Lisbeth Ludvigsen: The University of Bergen paper Frie teatergrupper og prosjektteater i Bergen 1970-2006 - en kontekstualisert oversikt og beskrivelse (literally: Independent Theatre Companies and Project Theatres in Bergen 1970-2006 – a contextualised overview and description), UiB 2007

Velure, Hallfrid et al (ed): Når teori og praksis likestilles: Festskrift til Knut Ove Arntzen (literally: When theory and practice are put on equal footing. Tribute essays for Knut Ove Arntzen). Oslo 2010

Worm Winther's private archive, donated by Worm Winther, 20.05.2015

Contributors (18)
Name Role
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – Author
Eli Wenche Lund-Johansen – Adapted by
Knut Ove Arntzen – Direction
Patricia Vik – Direction
Kåre Bulko – Music (3. versjon)
Tellef Kvifte – Music
Frode Rasmussen – Visual design
Finn Oscar Svendsen – Visual design
Worm Winther – Stage design
Ruth Bengtson – Costume
Ellen Svendsen – Costume
Sverre Knudsen – Light
Finn Oscar Svendsen – Light
Stein Amundsen – Performer (1. versjon)
Eli Wenche Lund-Johansen – Performer (1., 2. og 3. versjon)
Eve Ramboz – Performer (1. versjon)
Marit Thunold – Performer (1., 2. og 3. versjon)
Åshild Turøy – Performer (1. versjon)
Performance dates
1982 Show
March 15, 1980 Opening night
1980Galleri I Show
Festivals (2)
Bergenske Frynser 1982
Vossajazz March 15, 1980
Press coverage

Trygve Skanding, La de mange grupper blomstre! (literally: Let the many companies blossom!), date unknown, Morgenavisen [Bergen]:
"...the strength of Smugteatret lies in the visual, but at the same time, they did show sensitive acting for children. A little more instruction the company could have had, and accepted. […] Two of the most important companies in Bergen proved to me yesterday that they are headed in the right direction."

Jan H. Landro, Den lille prinsen i sceneversjon (literally: The Little Prince in stage version), March 29 1980, Bergens Tidende [Bergen]:
"...a characteristic physical theatre with stylised movements. [...] To me it seemed as if the acting style did not quite befit the material. [...] The slightly small-philosophical text material may not appeal to the very youngest. But if the company manages to fuse speech and movement to something more than recitation with accompanying physical extortion, I think the performance will reach a wide audience."