BUT IS IT REALLY "THEATRE"?

I have come to accept that my mode of functioning here in Denmark will be to fall sound asleep between 11-midnight, sleep for a few hours, then stay awake until I can't anymore.  Then sleep some more.  So here I am at 1:51 AM.  Thoughts about Sunday's productions swirling around in my brain.

Today (or by now I should say yesterday) was a great day.  Full of walking, talking and seeing performances. Meeting new people, finding common language stimulating and familiar.  And finally feeling "part of" this experience.

Taking the train to Malmo, Sweden was less complicated and more efficient than I had expected, albeit with a few odd twists.  When I have traveled outside of the US or even to other cities like NY or San Francisco, people generally take me for a local.  Not sure why that is. In other countries, I am usually not taken for an American (often a point of pride since many Americans are not looked on too fondly). This came into play today on the train when a Swedish man was standing over me barking an order to me--first in Swedish, then in German!  At first I didn't know he was talking to me, then I looked up and he kept saying something about "platzen".   Having grown up with a mother who spoke lots of Yiddish to her relatives and friends when she didn't want me to know what she was talking about and being a lover of German theatre, art and culture, I knew enough German to figure out he was referring to wanting to collapse or maybe sit down.  When I still didn't move, he switched to English, telling me in no uncertain terms that he had reserved this seat and showed me his ticket.  I immediately apologized and moved.   Also, if you have occasion to ask a Swede or a Dane for walking directions, please be on guard.  Many seem to say "it's just around the corner" or "it's only a few hundred meters" much like we from LA say, "it's not far" or "it's just across town". Just like the visitor to LA who drives for 45 minutes to an hour to get some place that we take for granted is all in a days typical distance, so I found myself walking long distances to get to various theatre venues, stores, etc.  Stopping along the way to make sure I was on the correct route, each person I met said "oh yes, its just up ahead". I  have been getting LOTS of exercise which is a really good thing since fat free milk seems to not exist in any coffee bar (nor does decaf as I pointed out yesterday.  I was given my second cup of free steamed milk yesterday by a barista who found my desire for a latte without the coffee either quaint or just too pathetic and did not include it on my bill)

The first production I saw was "Two Dimensional Life of Her": stunning visual images, almost scary; layer upon layer of video projections, props, over the top sound effects, gigantic shadows --or were they shadows?; animated puppet-like figures made of either cut paper or just pencil drawings; images of this woman, cleaning and scraping and searching; and FIRE!  At one moment, the entire room was on fire, flames leaping from giant video screens, the sounds of fire flames crackling and roaring and we were trapped.  Then a woman--the artist/performer appeared and talked to the audience and to her creations and demanded that they show us a happy ending.  More images, then she climbed back into her video image twin and waved to us as a signal for us to applaud.  Then it was over.  But was it theatre? Or was it a film?

Certainly, the visual elements were captivating.  The perf was for ages 10 and up and it would seem to me that much of it would have frightened most 10 year olds that I know. (However, according to an  article in the Assitej journal, what is age appropriate for American children in comparison to children in most other parts of the world (particularly Europe) is very different.  What was missing was STORY and actors.  Like a giant video game, the series of images just kept coming at you, pulling you along for the ride.  But I was at the Theatre and I expected actors or at least live or shadow puppets.  Instead, I felt like I was at the movies and that the screens just happened to be on a stage interspersed with some dramatic props .  And when the actor/creator did appear for a few moments, the “acting” was so poor and the effect so anticlimactic, that it would have been better if she had stayed backstage.

Conclusion:  there is absolutely a way to utilize all of the technology that she employed heighten a theatre piece.  But I would have to begin with a compelling story and effective acting and then layer it with the multimedia effects.  It would be exciting for kids to see and would certainly draw them into the live theatre experience.

Risk Assessment #4 noted:  as indicated in the conference materials, we were to have been able to converse with the artist after the show.  This did not happen.  However, there will be an opportunity to meet with other participants to discuss our responses to the shows is various “Tea Time” moderated discussions.

The second show I saw was a South African piece called “Every Year, Every Day I Am Walking” (for ages 13 and up) about the growing number of children left homeless and dislocated due to ongoing African wars. Performed by two actresses, it was moving but over written.  It went on forever, repetitive scenes and motifs that could have been accomplished in 30 minutes instead of 70.  That said, the most interesting aspect was the use of VERY low-tech effects accomplished by the use of children's toys as props, cutout paper dollhouse scenery, a pop up wire mesh “city”  and real fire!  Yes, the actor literally burned the paper house down.  Flames engulfed it and it fizzled.  Again, at the end of the piece, she burned letters--this time in a metal tub.  The interesting thing was that the video fire in “2 Dimensional Life” was more real to me than the actual fire in “Walking”. The actual fire took me out of the theatrical zone and into worrying about whether or not the stage would catch fire while the video fire catapulted me deeply into theatrical super-reality.

I returned to Copenhagen by train, riding with a young woman from Philly who was studying theatre for the VERY young--ages 6 mos to 6 years.  There is a large contingent of folks here interested doing theatre for that age and a number of performances geared for that age group

After searching for a restaurant that was open (most close on Sundays) I returned to my local Cafe Oscar and talked the chef into making me pasta w/veggies.  I also had a delicious grilled shrimp skewer.  Oh how I long for food made without lots of butter and oil!  And, once again I was given a free steamed milk.  The kind barista could not bear to charge me for a latte without coffee

More to see and do on Monday.  Excited about the prospects!