Stalker

The Hedda jury gave the following reason:

"A testament to memory inspired by a work of art, in which the voices of memory, with the logic of memory, express personal as well as stylised experiences of the work, while the performance venue remembers the work as such. In this both concrete and abstract journey through memory a generous room is created to give the audience the opportunity to take part in the remembrance. The production is meditative, entertaining and beautiful, not obtrusive, not indifferent, and with many entries to remember its foundation. Whether you know the artwork or not, the performance provides you with excellent help to imagine it. And as a bonus to the one who has seen it before, it inspires you to remember where you where if your life when you first saw Stalker. The production of the year award goes to Stalker."

At the webpage of Black Box Teater the following, among other things, is written about Stalker by Verk Produksjoner AKA Verk Productions:

"Based on the movie Stalker by Andrej Tarkovsky, the production becomes like a record of a number of perceptions of the movie, remembrances, misunderstandings and things forgotten. It turns out that everyone has a motive to enter the zone. In the movie the people enter the zone to save themselves, and this is what Verk Produksjoner AKA Verk Productions hopes for: To save itself!

The myth about the zone, consisting of a large area, is that it at a time was visited by extra-terrestrial creatures. Later the zone has attracted scientists, opportunists and the curious. In the zone strange phenomena take place, it seems the usual physical laws are not valid. The whole thing is put into action simply through showing up. Our moods, our thoughts and out feelings may cause change within the zone.

It is said that if one is able to reach the centre of the zone, one's own wishes will come through. The problem is just that one doesn't know which wishes: If it's the consciously phrased wishes, or the true, unconscious wishes one still doesn't know. All that happens depends on us, not on the zone.

Verk Produksjoner AKA Verk Productions has staged a number of productions at Black Box Teater the recent years, including the critically acclaimed Build Me A Mountain! the autumn of 2011. Det Eviga Leendet/The Eternal Smile had its premiere at Black Box Teater in November 2010 and won The Hedda Award for best production in 2011. The company tours nationally and internationally, to warm receptions from the press and audiences."

Supported by: Arts Council Norway and the Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs/MFA (travel grant/performing arts).

SOURCES:

Black Box Teater, blackboxteater.no, 28.01.2013, http://www.blackbox.no/content/titlePresentation.php?tid=2191

The Hedda Award, heddaprisen.no, 10.06.2013, http://www.heddaprisen.no/pub/heddaprisen/main/?aid=1176

IdaLou Larsen, Stalker før og nå (literally: Stalker before and now), 15.04.2013, Klassekampen [Oslo]:
"With Stalker Verk Produksjoner AKA Verk Productions continues its metaphysical project. [...]  With much make-up and dressed in costumes that are a bit confusing. [...] there is almost no dramatic progression in the text [...] Building a whole performance on some spectators' experience of a movie, even if it is a strong and enigmatic work of art, is a daring project. [...] The metaphysical point of discussion becomes too unclear."

Karen Frøsland Nystøyl, Kompromissløs reise i farlig sone (literally: Uncompromised journey through a dangerous zone), 16.04.2013, nrk.no:
"[...] These characters say a lot about how identity is shaped. All is centred on them, the experience of the movie is about them and who they were when they saw it. [...] The zone is represented by the visual and audial. When mist and wind blow life into the stage design, there is an exciting discomfort and uncertainty. [...] Per Platou's sound design lifts the performance. The way familiar sound material is mixed into different landscapes, is very finely done, and has a lot to say for the experience of the performance. [...] Stalker is a performance one may wish will last, and last, and last."

Hedda Fredly, Ekstremt sympatisk (literally: Extremely sympathetic), 18.04.2013, Scenekunst.no:
"Their newest production is a celebration of the treacherous memory, creating sympathy for the ways each and every one of us puts together our lives' narratives. [...] They have interviewed a number of actual persons about their relationships to the movie, and have distilled the interviews to monologues. [...] They all put a naive, clumsy touch to the acting style, but still manage to convey great serious-mindedness. While it may feel intrusive to the audience, being so strongly wished for as conversation partners, the way the performers look is ridiculous enough not to be perceived as too insisting."

• The Hedda Award 2013 - Production of the year

• The Hedda Award 2013 - Production of the year