Mare

The Norwegian Ibsen Award's jury gave the following reason for the award to Lisa Lie:

"Mare by Lisa Lie is a subtle and intelligent weave of references, characterised by musicality, originality and warmth. Springing out from Euripides' Medea, Lie spins forth a rich dramatic landscape in the range between classical tragedy and modern life view. The mythological, near archaic understanding of Medea is turned around, given a contemporary and intelligent perspective. The mythical is connected to our own time and age through ancient and contemporary references, and it becomes a journey into a mythical landscape, where the end stop is inside ourselves. The range between the post-dramatic structure, in which the stage design takes the place of a driving dramaturgical element, and monologues bringing the reader close to the main character, brings the drama close. As Medea says:

All we do against the defenceless. Without being able to see that it happens. Beneath our streets. Inside the houses. The missing children. Those who disappear. Those who have none to defend them. The betrayal from those who claim they defend them. And there I am. I mirror you. The darkness in you.

(Translated by Lillian Bikset for this Sceneweb entry. The original text is not translated into the English, and it sounds as follows: Alt det vi gjer mot dei forsvarslause. Utan at vi klarer å sjå at det skjer. Under gatene våre. Inne i husa. Dei sakna barna. Dei som forsvinn. Dei som ikkje har nokon til å forsvare seg. Svikta av dei som påstår forsvare dei. Og der har du meg. Eg speglar deg. Mørket i deg.)"

SOURCES:

The Norwegian Theatre, detnorsketeatret.no, 27.04.2020, https://www.detnorsketeatret.no/framsyningar/mare

The municipality of Skien, skien.kommune.no, 02.04.2020, https://www.skien.kommune.no/aktuelt/ibsenprisen-2020/?fbclid=IwAR0Bc93i7Rj4u3Dm_kYlTNQ1ACQUiyPIDump6XuZt8Bmdfw-8bjF-DVj2uQ