Perplex

The Hedda Jury gave the following reason for the production of the year award:

"The winner of The Hedda Award in the best production category is a playful, thoughtful and intelligent performance, succeeding in making complex philosophical problems and reflections accessible for the audience without turning to simplifying.

The director and the actors have realised the text's potential through using the theatre's options in creating a world where one may twist and turn reality. The result is an imaginative, entertaining staging, which invites the audience to examine the idea that categories such as identity, time and space are not as stable as we like to believe.

The production is not just rewarded because it pulled the audience with it into a world in which reality is dissolved and constantly changing. It also deserves recognition because it shows what artistic value there is in a successful collaboration between director and ensemble.

The production of the year award goes to Perplex."

The Hedda Jury gave the following reason for the special artistic achievement award:

"The jury is free to decide if to give out a Hedda Award in the special artistic achievement category. This year the jury wishes to do so. The award doesn't go to a director, stage designer or playwright. Nor is it given to a single actor. Based on two productions at one and the same theatre the award goes to the full cast for their ensemble play.

The jury wants to honour the interaction between actors; the collective process lifting the individual's strong performance to theatre experiences of particular quality and value. One of the productions is a classic, the other a modern play. In both cases we found in the interaction a clarity and a naturalism demanding generosity and a feeling of security in the cast. This collective is a condition for the theatre.

The special artistic achievement award goes to the full ensembles of the productions The Lady from the Sea and Perplex at Rogaland Theatre."

At the webpage of Rogaland Theatre the following, among other things, is written about Perplex:

"Perplex is an absurd comedy of errors, throwing the audience into an existential freefall. Can you trust your own perception of reality? Are you sure that the Earth is round, that the sky is blue or that you are you? Is God dead or has he just forgotten about us?

Perplex is a kaleidoscope of situations and characters, spinning on in an intricate manner. It is a humorous theatre game in which theatre and reality switches places and theories of Platon, Darwin and Nietzsche are mixed in. This combination may make anyone feel surprised, filled with wonder, confused, struck or perplex, if you like.

The four actors who without inhibitions throw themselves into the madness, challenging reality, are Ragnhild Mønnes, Svein Solenes, Øystein Martinsen and Ingrid Rusten."

Sources:

Rogaland Theatre, www.rogaland-teater.no, 06.03.2014, http://www.rogaland-teater.no/program/perpleks

Import from the Scenekunst.no list of openings 27/11-2013

The Hedda Award, heddaprisen.no, 19.05.2014, http://www.heddaprisen.no/pub/heddaprisen/main/?aid=1215

The Hedda Award 2014, www.heddaprisen.no, 16.06.2014, http://www.heddaprisen.no/pub/heddaprisen/main/?aid=1266

• The Hedda Award 2014 - Special artistic achievement
• The Hedda Award 2014 - Production of the year

• The Hedda Award 2014 - Production of the year