Bima and Bramati
An absurd comedy
Bima and Bramati by Tord Akerbæk, directed by Franzisca Aarflot, opened in The Norwegian Theatre the autumn of 2003, in collaboration with The Open Theatre (Det Åpne Teater).
In Bima and Bramati the misters Bima and Bramati lay connected to wires and tubes in a highly technological nursing home. They are waiting for the French repairman, they are collection sugar lumps as refuge provisions and do whatever it takes to find the difference between what is real and what isn’t.
Mr. Bima and Mr. Bramati desperately hold on to the conviction that there must be something that is real out there, in the world, but they can’t separate what is real and what is false.
Source: The Norwegian Theatre, detnorsketeatret.no, 12.11.2010, http://www.detnorsketeatret.no/Default.aspx?Tabid=65&PlayId=10
Information
(Objekt ID 8382)| Object type | Production |
| Premiere | Navember 20, 2003 |
| Produced by | The Norwegian Theatre |
| Coproducers | The Open Theatre (Det Åpne Teater) |
| Based on | Bima and Bramati by Tord Akerbæk |
| Audience | Adults, Youth |
| Audience size | 543 |
| Number of events | 18 |
| Language | Norwegian Nynorsk |
| Keywords | Theatre, Theatre of the absurd, Chamber play, Comedy |
| Running period | Navember 20, 2003 — December 13, 2003 |
| Website | Det Norske Teatret, Det Åpne Teater |
Requirements to venue
| Blackout | No |
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Tord Akerbæk | – Playwright |
| Franzisca Aarflot | – Direction |
| Ola E. Bø | – Dramaturge |
| Mia Runningen | – Stage design |
| Mia Runningen | – Costume design |
| Jostein Reistad | – Sound design |
| Morten Espeland | – Actor (Herr Bramati) |
| Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen | – Actor (Herr Bima) |
| Stig Wedvik | – Mask design |
| Navember 20, 2003 – Scene 2, Det Norske Teatret, The Norwegian Theatre | Worldwide premiere |
"Luminescent interaction in existential blackness, captivating. (...) With the ambivalence between the force of life and apathy as the central point of revolving Tord Akerbæk has written an autonomous Beckett pastiche taking hold of us, as a show of what a drama can manage without and still vibrate. The energy of the piece is filled with contradictions between sparse language and the grotesque, between banality and philosophy, and it awakens interest in the compilation of pairs of terms, such as poetry and pragmatism, fear and security, violence and humour."
Torunn Liven. Dagsavisen.
"Tord Akerbæk writes in an absurd tradition. He succeeds in bringing scenic energy and credibility into his text, with cleansing humour."
Andreas Wiese, Dagbladet.
"The text is a game in which everything is possible. The play balances on a fine edge between lavish humour and deep seriousness. (...) But the production still seems to be unfinished. The text has passages slowing down its progress and cooling down its temperature. (...) Still, the production is an experience filled with joy, thanks to the text by Tord Akerbæk, filled with daredevil jolts, wild associative ideas, dark humour and sincere sobriety as it is."
Astrid Sletbak, VG
"In simple language with room for pauses and subtext, again reminiscent of Beckett’s style, a science fiction-like existence in a hospital, the repair person and death are described and reflected upon. (...) The text and setting invite to humour and seriousness both, but as biting society satire this becomes a bit predictable and because of that, a bit faint."
Elisabeth Rygg, Aftenposten