DeSK
Dette Skrev Kvinder (literally: What Women Wrote)
During the spring of 2010, the actresses Nina Åkerlund and Cecilie Lundsholt started the DeSK-project, Dette Skrev Kvinder (literally: What Women Wrote). The DeSK-project, directed the stage light towards forgotten plays by female writers written in the epoch of the modern drama's breakthrough. The audience was invited to staged readings of forgotten classics from the end of the 1800s.
Information
(Objekt ID 5683)| Object type | Production |
| Premiere | September 3, 2010 |
| Produced by | The National Theatre, Norwegian Centre for New Playwriting (NCNP) |
| Based on | Vesla* (The Little One) by Anna Dahl Munch; Undine by Alvilde Prydz; Folk* (People) by Asta Graah Bolander |
| Audience | Adults |
| Language | Norwegian |
| Keywords | Reading |
| Running period | September 9, 2010 |
| Website | Dramatikkens hus |
Requirements to venue
| Blackout | No |
Supported by The Swedish Arts Grants Committee Nina Åkerlund and Cecilie Lundsholt have - surprisingly enough - found 16 active female playwrights from the age of Ibsen. They wrote more than 70 plays in the period from 1880 to 1913, but their plays have disappeared from the stage without trace and been left to dust in the archives of the libraries.
The Norwegian authors and playwrights Anna Munch, Alvhilde Prydz, Helene Dickmar, Thora Lund, Doris Rein, Mathilde Schøtt, Amalie Skram, Asta Graah and Laura Kieler were in their age produced by the major stages in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Whether any of these Norwegian female playwrights deserves a renewed place on stage is left to be seen.
Over the past four years the Swedish sister projects Spets and Modärna kvinnor have put Swedish female playwrights on the map. The curriculum of the theatre schools has been changed. One semester with Strindberg/Ibsen has been rechristened to "The Modern Breakthrough" and now includes female playwrights, their dramas have been reprinted and republished and theatres such as Stockholm City Theatre, The Royal Dramatic Theatre, Riksteatern and the Östgötateatern (among others) have expanded their repertoires of classics.
In 2012 three books were published as a result of the DeSK project; the essay collection Dette Skrev Kvinner (literally: What Women Wrote), (editor: Lene Therese Teigen, published by the publishing house Vidarforlaget) and two play collections, both published by the publishing house Transit Forlag: Hulda Garborg: Mødre, Rationelt Fjøsstell og Edderkoppen (literally: Hulda Garborg: Mothers, Reason and Barn Chores and The Spider), plus Dramatikk av Garborg, Kieler, Munch og Prydz (literally: Drama by Garborg, Kieler, Munch and Prydz). The latter collection consisted of the plays The Spider by Hulda Garborg (prologue by Arnhild Skre), Men of Honour by Laura Kieler (prologue by Inger-Margrethe Lunde), Sorte Svaner* (Black Swans) by Anna Munch (prologue by Lene Therese Teigen) and Undine by Alvilde Prydz (prologue by Lene Therese Teigen).
Sources:
Dramatikkens hus, dramatikkenshus.no, 31.08.2010, http://www.dramatikkenshus.no/pub/dramatikkenshus/Innhold/kalenderarkiv/?aid=1056&cid=1045&viewall=1#dramatikkenshus
Underskog, vagant.no, 31.08.2010, http://www.vagant.no/kalender/68514_dette-skrev-kvinder-desk-prosjektet-lesning-av-glemte-k/forestilling/101262
The publishing houses Transit Forlag and Vidarforlaget
*Not yet translated into English. The title within parentheses is the Norwegian title's literal meaning.
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Anna Dahl Munch | – Playwright |
| Asta Graah Bolander | – Playwright |
| Alvilde Prydz | – Playwright |
| Lise Fjeldstad | – Direction |
| Pernille Skaansar | – Direction |
| Lene Therese Teigen | – Direction |
| Lene Therese Teigen | – Dramaturge |
| Lene Therese Teigen | – Project manager |
| September 3, 2010 – Hallen, Norwegian Centre for New Playwriting (NCNP) | Worldwide premiere |