Tourniquet

"The title Tourniquet refers to a large treadmill placed in the middle of the stage, revolving in a slow and practically hypnotising pace. The production is performed all without words, but accompanied by cinematic music, including horror movie-like electronic with connotations to death cults, Satanist and religious rituals. This is combined with elements from German cabaret and Nazi symbols in a death game where everything is either life or death. A simple, almost black/white colour play with contrasting patches of red provides, with the silence, connotations to Gothic silent movies and horror movies from the 1920es in addition to several references to early Zombie movies and myths about the living dead.

The political worship of evil is connected to an ambiguous devil cult in which the female body is made into an obvious object. The three actors onstage, two men and a woman, take part in these cultic rituals in which the woman is sacrificed while she is also personally taking part in the worshipping and the sacrifice. The acts of sacrifice are made in a manner so literal it can almost be called blasphemed. Abattoir Fermé balances on the edge of blasphemy and juxtaposes worshipping of God, worshipping of the Devil and Heathen religion in a thorough focus on general rituality. He good and the evil are all the way presented as two sides of the same whole, in which the apparent good is no better than the evil. The sacrifice is presented as sick and normal at the same time, inducing a powerful feeling of unease. It is like a dive into the ugly, cruel subconsciousness of society; some place one can never get out of.

Despite the clear symbols and visible references there is no answer, nor a simple exit from Tourniquet. The production is one which leaves the spectators with a feeling of unease rather than an interpretation. In the silence similar to the silent movies and without a clear line of events Abattoir Fermé creates a visually occult world in which the members of the audience need to decide for themselves what they have seen."

The text is an excerpt from the article Bak slakteriets lukkede dører (literally: Behind the closed doors of the slaughterhouse) by Julie Rongved Amundsen (2008). 

Sources: Amundsen, Julie Rongved (2008). Bak slakteriets lukkede dører (literally: Behind the closed doors of the slaughterhouse), Black Box Teater Oslo autumn program 2009, 27-28.

Stamsund International Theatre Festival, http://www.stamsund-internasjonale.no/, 27.10.2010, http://www.stamsund-internasjonale.no/Old/2008/

"Visually Tourniquet is a fascinating journey through the artistic presentation of the many dark, forbidden and hidden depths of our culture, while the strong sound backdrop by Kreng keep filling out and expanding what we see. The three actors never utter a line, they master another and demanding language in which their bodies alone, without assistance from the words, tell stories creating the most amazing connotations in the spectators. Tourniquet is different and original theatre stimulating and spellbinding intellect and emotions."

Larsen, IdaLou (20.11.2008). Review titled Fascinerende forskjellig (literally: Fascinatingly different). IdaLou Larsen, idalou.no, 09.11.2010, http://www.idalou.no/pub/idalou/kritikker/?aid=394