Apekvinnen* (The Ape Woman)
Apekvinnen* (The Ape Woman) was a production by and with Marika Enstad, directed by Jon Tombre and produced in 2013.
Apekvinnen is the story of Julia Pastrana, called "the ugliest woman in the world".
Julia Pastrana was born in Mexico in 1834 and ended in Norway as a moth-eaten mummy in the basement of the hospital Rikshospitalet.
Apekvinnen is a production and a musical dance of death in the memory of a woman who was seen as part human and part animal - repulsive and attractive at the same time.
The audience experiences a massive sound image presented by Dødsorkestret (literally: The Orchestra of Death), in which the music switches between evocative circus sounds, mourning marches and Mexican melodies.
Marika Enstad embodies the Ape Woman Julia Pastrana.
*Not yet translated into English. The title within parentheses is the Norwegian title's literal meaning.
Information
(Objekt ID 36862)| Object type | Production |
| Premiere | October 18, 2013 |
| Audience | Adults |
| Running period | October 18, 2013 |
| Website | facebook-side |
At the Facebook page of Apekvinnen* (The Ape Woman) the following, among other things, is written:
"The production deals with the life of a distinctive woman with a bizarre life story. Darwin described Pastrana as an extraordinary fine woman, with a solid, masculine beard, hairy forehead, swollen lips and irregular teeth. She was exhibited singing and dancing in freak shows.
After her death she ended as a taxidermy specimen sensation, exhibited all over the world, before she was taken to Norway by the Tivoli king Haakon Lund. He exhibited her at his tivoli shows – the last time in 1971. People also remember the embalmed body from the agricultural fair in 1959.
Pastrana's remains were put in storage for then to be stolen during a break-in. A while later some playing children made a terrible find near a garbage dump in Groruddalen; they discover a disembodied arm. The rest of Julia's body was discovered in a camping van. Eventually she ended in a glass sarcophagus at Rikshospitalet.
It would take more than 150 years before 'the ugliest woman in the world' - Julia Pastrana -was laid to rest. After pressure put on Norway from different entities she was finally buried in her homeland Mexico earlier this year."
Source:
Facebook on Apekvinnen, https://www.facebook.com/apekvinnen/info
*Not yet translated into English. The title within parentheses is the Norwegian title's literal meaning.
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Marika Enstad | – Text |
| Tarald Stein | – Text |
| Jon Tombre | – Direction |
| Corinne Lyche Campos | – Choreography |
| Eirik Fauske | – Dramaturge |
| Kathrine Tolo | – Stage design |
| Reidar Richardsen | – Video/Film |
| Reidar Richardsen | – Lighting design |
| Marika Enstad | – Actor (Apekvinnen) |
| Daniel Klingen Borg | – Performer |
| Thorolv Stangnes | – Performer |
| Øyvind Brække | – Musician |
| Tito Guevara | – Musician |
| Ketil Kielland Lund | – Musician |
| Torbjørn Sandvik | – Musician |
| October 31, 2013 – Kulturkirken Jakob, Oslo, Kulturkirken Jakob | Show |
| October 30, 2013 – Kulturkirken Jakob, Oslo, Kulturkirken Jakob | Show |
| October 24, 2013 – Kulturkirken Jakob, Oslo, Kulturkirken Jakob | Show |
| October 23, 2013 – Kulturkirken Jakob, Oslo, Kulturkirken Jakob | Show |
| October 19, 2013 – Kulturkirken Jakob, Oslo, Kulturkirken Jakob | Show |
| October 18, 2013 – Kulturkirken Jakob, Oslo, Kulturkirken Jakob | Opening night |