Norwegian Theatre

On my hunt for new Nordic plays (and general appreciation for Norwegian theatre), I've had the opportunity to meet with several theatres as well as see a handful of productions. Every theatre person I speak with here in Norway says I need to speak with Det Åpne Teater . I just heard from my last host family in Drøbak that they have been able to arrange a meeting. Hooray! Det Åpne Teater produced a storytelling festival last week that I was hoping to see. I made it to see Ben Haggarty (a British storyteller) who is known world-wide.

Another news-worthy theatre company, Brageteater located in Drammen, is the talk of the town for earning a grant from the EU for 2 million Euro. Brageteater, along with 14 other European theatre companies, will develop and exchange theatre for youth. With the help of Kjell and Morten from Lørenskog Rotary Klub, they pulled some strings to get me into a private showing of When the Trains Go By - a one act in English about rape, responsiblity, and when there is no excuse for cruel behavior. Sorry that many of these links are to Norwegian websites. I thought if you can't read Norwegian, it will at least give you an idea of what's going on.

Last night, my Oppegård host mother, Bente, took me to see The Jungle Book at Det Norske Teatret - one of Norway's biggest and best theatres with a focus on NyNorsk. The Jungle Book (Kipling's version) was adapted by a Norwegian and set to hip-hop and rock music. Mowgli, was played by Adil, one of the recent winners of Norway's So You Think You Can Dance. He certainly rocked it. See a trailer for Jungel Boka here. It's pretty rad.

This week I'll see The King is Coming in Fredrikstad, and next week the Norwegian version of Mamma Mia. Can't wait!