The Learned Ladies

Sossen Krohg chose to set the action in the 1920s and to cast men in several of the female roles.

Guy Krohg’s set and costume designs combined a variety of styles, including traditional handicraft and Rococo.

The guest performance in Nancy, France, was supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

SOURCES:

Einar Dahl’s private archive. Donated by Einar Dahl, 16.02.2015

Førland, Tor Egil: Club 7. Pax Forlag A/S, Oslo 1998.

Jenssen, Hugo Lauritz: Sossen. Bohemdronningen (‘Sossen - the bohemian queen’), p. 251, Kagge Forlag, 2015

Krohg, Sossen: Hekletøy med store hull (’Crochet with big holes’), Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Oslo 1986

Ivar Eskeland, date unknown, Dagbladet [Oslo]:
“Most of the performers in this somewhat mixed ensemble adopted a grotesquely stylised manner. Attila Horvath played Molière.”

Odd Eidem, date unknown, VG [Oslo]:
“His undisciplined charm spills exuberantly across the stage, aided by an undoubtedly artistic temperament, but whether he is actually an actor, well, that is another matter – nevertheless, this vivacious gentleman puts the audience in good spirits […] We wish him every success, not out of ordinary ‘sympathy’, but because, in one way or another, he belongs to the theatrical family, because he has circus blood in his veins. […] The theatre […] is still at the amateur stage and therefore eludes conventional critical judgement.”

Ernst Sørensen, date unknown, Morgenbladet [Oslo]:
“Suddenly, an enormous figure comes tumbling onto the stage in billowing black robes, with a two-metre wingspan, waving its arms about like a ghost and thundering forth, in a ventriloquist’s voice, a cobweb of ladylike intellectualisms. It was the mistress of the house, Philaminte, played by a man. The first impression was overwhelming, paralysingly comic. The performance showed flashes of talent, and the character might perhaps have justified its place in another play – for example, as the Ghost in ‘Hamlet’. But Molière presumably had something else in mind. […] Well – what is one to say? […] one might perhaps consider it questionable that productive rehearsal work of this kind should be put on public display.”