Shadows

Shadow (2009) was a theater production by De Utvalgte. Shadow was based on the play by Jon FosseShadowVoices from women and men calling out from some kind of a limbo, a place beyond life, a place where they can neither stay nor escape. The present merges with memories from the past. What the characters have left from life are the memories about the relations and connections they had to each other.

De Utvalgte and director Kari Holtan benefitted from a unique effect. In the room six large head-shaped plaster figures hung from the air. On them faces were projected – faces talking to us and each other. The text belonged to Fosse, but children were who were talking, while adult actors silently performed onstage.

Information

(Objekt ID 3171)
Object type Production
Original title Norwegian: Skuggar
Premiere February 3, 2009
Produced by De Utvalgte
Coproducers Black Box Teater
Based on Shadows by Jon Fosse
Audience Adults, Youth
Language Norwegian Nynorsk
Subtitles English, German, Czech, Spanish and Chinese
Keywords Multidisciplinary, Theatre, Post-dramatic theatre, Video, Multimedia
Running period February 3, 2009  
Duration 70 minutes
Website De Utvalgte

Requirements to venue

Blackout Yes
More

Instructor Kari Holtan about Shadows:

"When working with Erosion in 1995 we read all that Fosse had written and became very enthusiastic about his work. Some time ago we experimented with video projected faces on enlarged heads cast in plaster. The expression the heads gave along with the absence of the body led to a reminiscence of Fosse's texts.

Shadows has a universe of its own; open, clear and at the same time disturbing and enigmatic. 'Everything is now and everything is always'. The fact that time and space are dissolved allows me as a reader to recognise my own unease. The people are in an immaterial room, in a state of zero, where memories of a life together are their only common ground. The text challenges one to ask existential questions; to wonder who we are and how we make traces in each other's lives."

The director Kari Holtan was nominated for the Hedda Award 2009 for best direction with Shadows.

Shadows by De Utvalgte was supported by Arts Council Norway and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/MFA (travel grant/performing arts).

Source:

BIT Teatergarasjen, bit-teatergarasjen.no, "Høst 2009", 21.08.2010, http://www.bit-teatergarasjen.no/article/64

De Utvalgte, deutvalgte.no, 21.08.2010, http://www.deutvalgte.no/skuggar/skuggar.html / 27.09. 2021, https://www.deutvalgte.no/portfolio_page/skuggar/

Festivals (13)
Den Internasjonale Fossefestivalen September 13, 2019
Jon Fosse Festival April 8, 2018
Nuuk Nordisk Kulturfestival October 17, 2017
Hong Kong Arts Festival March 1, 2017
Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro April 15, 2014
Kurdistan International Theatre Festival March 6, 2012
Bealtaine Festival May 12, 2011
4+4 Days In Motion Festival October 19, 2010
Noorderzon Festival August 27, 2010
Mladi Levi Festival August 24, 2010
METEOR October 30, 2009
Jon Fosse-dagane August 14, 2009
Bergen International Festival May 23, 2009
Press coverage

Andreas Wiese (2009, 04.02). Døden fra barnemunn (literally: Death from the mouths of children). Dagbladet
«(...) theatrical poetry, existential wonder, and an almost meditative contemplation – mixed with a bit of enraptured amazement at how well the children’s readings can work. It becomes a thought-provoking, different theatre performance, as if from a different place, given to us here and now.»

Elin Høyland (2009, 06.02). Konkret mystikk (literally: Tangible mysticism). Morgenbladet
"Through the child face and voice they touch upon a pure existential nerve."

Inger Margrethe Lunde (2009, 06.02). Aftenposten
"De Utvalgte connects the unexpected with the expected. We experience more and on many levels, both intellectually and emotionally."

Therese Bjørneboe (2009, 06.02). Klassekampen
"There are moments in this performance that blow a hole through the roof."

IdaLou Larsen (2009, 17.02).
"De Utvalgte’s original and conscious interpretation is strong both visually and lyrically, and not least - it expands Jon Fosse's theatrical universe"

Jan Bachmann (2009, 28.05). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
"With advanced artistic means, it was here brought forth a new understanding of an old message: you can reach many key insights only when you again become like a child."

Martin Nordvik (2009, 09.10). Adresseavisen
"An original effect casts light on the shadow game, and hit a perfect tone in Jon Fosses' drama."