Over 100,000 people live with dementia in Norway today. This means that there are probably hundreds of thousands who are relatives of someone who has such an illness. Teater Innlandet is on tour in the run-up to Christmas with the play “Before I forget that I love you: I love you”, which is about losing a demented spouse – and about becoming demented yourself. The vision is clear and clear. She does not ignore the difficult feelings associated with being close to a demented person. One-man farewell “Before I forget that I love you: I love you” is a one-man vision. John Nyutstumo plays with this his last production as an addition at Teater Innlandet. The play starts with the character Terje (Nyutstumo) giving a speech at his wife’s funeral. He lost his wife to dementia long before she died from him. A LONG GOODBYE: Terje will be alone long before his wife dies. Photo: Magnus Skrede / TEATER INNLANDET Throughout the short hour the play lasts, the audience follows Terje home after the funeral, where he reads a love letter his wife wrote to him before she completely forgot herself. The piece shows how he gets on in spite of loneliness, and after a while sneaks in: Has he started to become demented, he too? It turns out to be true. Terje plunges into the merry-go-round of oblivion, courage and despair. Not just with hair British playwright Pip Utton has written the play. It is clear in the language, but offers no surprises in the narrative itself. It is in a way predictable both in lines and in character building. Terje’s action pattern is just as one could imagine in advance. Performances that deal with something that one fears and to which grief and great difficulties are connected, have easily become flat in the face of a script that does not have particularly much between the lines, as is the case with this text. He needs the other means of production, such as scenography, light and sound, to also help tell the story with weight. That they don’t just confirm the text and iron him out, but challenge him and expand the story. And I think Sabina Jacobsson’s scenography does that. Losing the thread Over the dark stage room she has drawn a kind of curtain of many thin threads. This is how Jacobsson creates a room Terje can go into and hide in, like a wall where no one can reach him completely. There is a rail in the ceiling that allows this curtain to be pulled to the side and backwards and thus create new rooms. It is effective and helps to lift the narrative. Lines are projected onto the wall of wire, which become tangled as Terje begins to forget. It works well. It is less successful when text is projected onto the wall, then it is as if the spoken words and the projected text are fighting for space and attention. MESSING IT UP: Strekane shows how things mess up for Terje as he gradually becomes demented. When the lines mix with letters, it also messes up the performance. Photo: Magnus Skrede Shedding light on grief The music used in the play was played by Bugge Wesseltoft. It’s also a good choice. Wesseltoft’s distinctive feature as a musician is, among other things, that he uses new and surprising sounds both in his own material and on songs written by others. The piano music is calm, but full of unexpected harmonies. It helps to reinforce the unreality that characterizes everyday life when dementia tightens its grip on him. The driller of the good works in “Before I forget that I love you: I love you”, Nyutstumo stands firm in his foresight. He has weight in the role, even where the text is weak. He plays the transition from forgetting a little to losing himself well. Together with music, scenography, lighting and some of the projections, Nyutstumo creates new spaces in the difficult situation surrounding dementia. The foresight is nevertheless a little too predictable, but at the same time recognisable. For many, this will make it a good theater experience. news reviewer: Photo: Magnus Skrede Title: “Before I forget that I love you: I love you” Place: Hamar cultural center. Going on tour to Tynset, Tolga, Koppang, Alvdal, Elverum, Trysil, Flisa, Sand, Hadeland, Søndre Land, Lom, Lillehammer, Fagernes, Oslo and Gjøvik. With: John Nyutstumo Director: Lars Erik Holter Composer: Bugge Wesseltoft Scenography/video design: Sabina Jacobsson Costume design: Kristin Bengtson Lighting design: Olav Nordhagen Producer: Kari Dæhlin Translator: Jørgen Strickert Voices: Anne Guri Tvedt and Helle Ottesen Hi!I’m reviewing theatre, performing arts and dance for news as a freelancer. Also read my reviews of “Kristin Lavransdotter” at Det Norske Teatret, of the play “Don Juan” at Trøndelag Teater or “Snøsøstera” at Det Norske Teateret.
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I love you” at Teater Innlandet – Reviews and recommendations
