louder

The production louder by Verdensteatret is a massive orchestra work in which tidal waves of images and sounds are thrown out from a machine telling a number of stories.

The Mekong delta is a landscape having become almost mythical in contemporary history. First through reports, and then, perhaps most of all, through Francis Ford Coppola’s filmic doomsday portrayal in Apocalypse Now from 1978.

Verdensteatret is ranked among the most innovative and experimental theatre companies in Norway and their productions are sought-after in Norway and internationally. The artist collective has developed a particular complex audiovisual expression in which prominent sound landscapes mix with sculptural stage design and bits of fragile human narration.

On their webpage Verdensteatret describes louder like this:

"A telling orchestra is rigged on a rusty wire and a tidal wave of pictures and sounds
is thrown at us by a machine so fragile that it is in constant danger of short-circuiting. Among a pile of megaphones that hurl sound in all directions, and a knot of wires so stretched that they may break at any moment, we glimpse people. People who are trying to interact with this landscape, tugging at strings that are everywhere in the room. The strings hanging from the ceiling form the stage for a mass of figures. A mechanical puppet play takes place here - over the heads of the human figures (...) Tales from a distant past, tales from our time, about wars, river, the theatre, the nation, music, nature, technology, the journey and about exile. In the midst of this throng, we find a heart of darkness - a long, black barge on the open sea, radiating coldness and stories."

In 2007 Verdensteatret did a installationversion of louder at Kunstnernes hus in Oslo, Norway.

Supported by: Norsk Kulturråd

Sources:

BIT Teatergarasjen, program 2008. 10.08.2010:

http://www.bit-teatergarasjen.no -arkiv

Verdensteatret, verdensteatret.com, 18.11.2010,

http://www.verdensteatret.com/louder_intro.html

Pettersen, Anette Therese (16.10.07). Review titled En komatisert livsform (literally a comatose form of life):. Kunstkriktikk, kunstkritikk.no, 17.11.2010, http://www.kunstkritikk.no/kritikk/en-komatisert-livsform/
"louder is experienced as incredibly insisting, and in the interaction between the elements of the production there are fragments and pieces of a puzzle I am not totally able to put together. There is no denying there is something of Big Brother about it all. Some of the elements give me a sense of surveillance; in the movie clips as well as parts of the conversations heard when the performers pull their fingers along a string. I have the feeling louder will follow me, it has sort of snuck underneath my skin and lays there luring. As a sleeping creature it awaits being awakened. In glimpses it shows up in my subconsciousness, reminding me of a scene or deepening a sequence before it again dozes off. A comatose creature who has become part of me – and who can, whenever, wake up for real."

Bjørneboe, Therese (08.11.2010). Review titled Det klassiske øyeblikket (literally: The classic moment). Klassekampen, klassekampen.no, 17.11.2020, http://www.klassekampen.no/48188/mod_article/item
"Like this louder can also be experienced as some kind of «cannibalistic orchestra sculpture», transforming the people onstage, the images and the things to something else. Verdensteatret seems to manage the expression to the point of perfect in this production. The series is a pioneering project and has cost a tremendous lot of work, exploring, failing. Now it remains to see if this becomes an artistic signature to be recycled forever. Right now Verdensteatret seems to have reached the point where content and form are perfectly balanced, the classic point."

Rygg, Elisabeth (09.10.2007). Review titled Høylytt og fengende multiteater (literally: Loud and catchy multi theatre). Aftenposten, aftenposten.no, 17.11.2010, http://oslopuls.aftenposten.no/?service=redirect&sourceid=2037245
"Verdensteatret has created a daring and experimental cross-cultural production. Music, pitches, voices and images create moods and tell a story independent of time and the rules of the room. Here is no real action. There is not one element carrying the performance. The wholeness of the elements creates the total expression. louder is a production worth seeing – also to experience the merging of artistic expressions the Contemporary Festival and contemporary theatre can offer."

Steinskog, Erik (23.05.2008). Review titled Postapokalypse nå! (literally: Post-apocalypse now). Bergens Tidende, bt.no, 17.11.2010, http://www.bt.no/bergenpuls/festspill/article568483.ece
"I have no idea what the play means, but it opened a room for a thought which is also corporal and physical, and I don’t doubt in encouraging others to meet the same room."

Sannæss, Thor (08.10.2007). Review titled Opplevelsen av en lydmaskin (literally: The experience of a sound machine). Scenekunst, scenekunst.no, 17.11.2010, http://www2.scenekunst.no/artikkel_3980.nml
"Perhaps Verdensteatret has come to the conclusion the world is staged in a better way outside of theatre, and because of this, theatre has to create its own world. But strong experiences one can have everywhere, outside theatre. The art’s ability to create exceptional experiences lays in the wish for significance. The correlation between the wish to have significance and the fear of one-sided messages characterises some of the best productions by Verdensteatret. Many are seduced by Verdensteatret’s intricate machines, but I wish they would return to the battle for a theatre discussing ambivalent opinions on the world."