When we dead awaken

At the webpage of Trøndelag Theatre the following, among other things, is written about When we dead awaken:

"The world-famous sculptor Arnold Rubek is vacationing in Norway with his young wife. They both hope that the coast of the homeland shall re-nourish the relationship. But at the spa hotel a woman from Rubek's past shows up: Irene, who was once the model for his most famous sculpture….

(...)

The reception of When we dead awaken in 1899 varied from panegyric delight to indignation and disgust. For whereas some were shocked and disappointed, others saw the beginning of something new and exciting.

Perhaps that is the very reason why When we dead awaken not just is one of Ibsen's best plays, but also one of the most mysterious. For there are almost as many interpretations as there are staged versions, and the multiple possible meanings of the piece triggers curiosity and excitement connected to every staging.

With joy Håkon Bleken accepted the offer to paint the poster motive for When we dead awaken. He has long had a strong relationship to this play. 'This I suppose is something any human can recognise itself in. It is about one's own relationship to work and art, the other sex and general things in life. One can't analyse away the insight that one perhaps uses as well as consumes other people, and oneself'."

When we dead awaken received four nominations for The Hedda Award 2015 and won one of the awards. Bård Lie Thorbjørnsen won the award in the best stage design/costume design category. In addition, the production was nominated in the production of the year category. Tyra Tønnessen was nominated in the best direction category, and Renate Reinsve was nominated in the best supporting actress category for the role of Maja Rubek.

The Hedda Jury gave the following reason for the award to Thorbjørnsen:

"The stage design is to contribute to supporting the content of the production, and to create the necessary illusion. It is particularly good when it is a little work of art in itself, an innovative and visual experience. This year's award winner has done this in full through creating an enormous, content-rich and continuously surprising landscape using the whole stage room to visualise and underline the action of the play, and in which, in the final, an illusion that is as dramatic as it is surprising is created.

This year's best stage design award goes to Bård Lie Thorbjørnsen."

SOURCES:

Import from the Scenekunst.no list of openings 11.08.2014

Trøndelag Theatre, trondelag-teater.no, 11.08.2014, http://trondelag-teater.no/forestillinger/nar-vi-dode-vakner/

The Hedda Award, heddaprisen.no, 20.05.2015, http://www.heddaprisen.no/pub/heddaprisen/main/?aid=1306

The Hedda Award, heddaprisen.no, 21.06.2015, http://heddaprisen.no/pub/heddaprisen/main/?aid=1367

• The Hedda Award 2015 - Production of the year
• Natt&Dag-prisen. Årets Beste 2014 - Natt&Dag-prisen. Årets Scenekunst Trondheim.