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!