What if there was a secret tram line that took you to a place where dreams can come true? To the North Pole, where your greatest wishes can be fulfilled? For three years, Feil teater in Oslo has taken children and adults online on such a tram ride. It’s like in Kardemomme city: The ticket costs nothing on this tram here. This small company has managed to create spectacular and meaningful Christmas theater completely free of charge for the residents of Oslo. Earlier this year, they received the Hedda Prize for their tram vision. VRANTEN TRAM TICKET HOLDER, HOTEL RECEPTIONIST AND YMIST ANNA: Sebastian Skytterud Myers plays the role of the guard of the tram to the North Pole. But Alva (with his back to you) still finds some advice. Photo: Dag Jenssen Tram sneaking On Økern in Oslo, a few hundred meters from where the National Theater played “Death in Oslo S” earlier this year, find this magical tram. That is to say: First comes a tricked-out rule rider by a ticket operator (Sebastian Skytterud Myers) who would like to sell a ticket to the North Pole to ten-year-old Alva (Olivia Christine Andersson Thompson). There is a small catch to the whole thing: the tram will not run until three or four years from now. The line has been affected by climate change and is ruined, and it takes time to repair it. But Alva has to go to the North Pole to make his wish there. She is afraid that her grandmother will disappear, i.e. die, because she is getting old. HAPPY FOR GRANDMOTHER: Alva does not want grandma to grow old and die. On the trip to the North Pole, she finds out that with death, you just have to accept it. A small box of memory helps her with that. Grandma will be played by Unn Vibeke Hol. The reindeer by Lars Halvor Andreassen. Photo: Dag Jenssen Grandma (Unn Vibeke Hol), who turns out to be a retired tram repairer with an enormous number of repairer’s trophies in the cupboard, will soon come and find Alva. Together they sneak off guard to find the North Pole tram and repair it. And the audience joins in. Hope for the North Pole “Last stop: the North Pole” is walking theater where you have to go through an almost magical portal to find your way to the North Pole. For tram repairman Sørensen’s old office is of course not just an office. The 20 audience members who have room for each show are sluiced through secret passageways, hide in bushes and underbrush when the ticket taker gets the speed of a whole company on the run (us), meets a reindeer, takes in a hotel and helps with important brain research when it really matters. ARRIVAL AT THE LAST STOP: Once at the North Pole, the landscape is clear, and it is full of wishes from young and old who have been to the North Pole before. On a small piece of paper, you can write what you want and hang it up. Could it be fulfilled? The reindeer Randolf (Lars Halvor Andreassen) hopes so. Photo: Dag Jenssen We finally make it to the North Pole, a deserted landscape free of Santa Clauses, but full of hope. Here you can write your wishes on notes and hang them up: “Swimming pool”, “Peace on earth”, “Mobile phone”, “A nice Christmas” are written on the notes. The core of foresight is that you can’t have everything you want. But one can still wish. Alva has to come to terms with the fact that the grandmother can’t be there forever, that it won’t work. TIMELESS MEMORY: A box of memories helps Alva (Olivia Christine Andersson Thompson) to remember that even if her grandmother one day disappears, she is still there in the memories they have shared. Photo: Dag Jenssen Imagination is decisive “Last stop: the North Pole” is based on conversations with children in Oslo about what Christmas is to them, what they want and what is important to them. When I saw the very first projection in 2021, with the title “The 11 tram goes to the North Pole”, they played for cohorts with a maximum of five people at a time. Then I sat in small trams that were pushed around through different rooms and rooms. A wonderful journey. Now they play without restrictions, and the foresight uses the children as problem solvers. They take that task very seriously. Want to make an impression It’s nice to see how the children and their actions and imagination are decisive for the story. They are co-creators, and they know it. Something is at stake, but the task is not impossible to solve. There is a lot of hope in that. SECRET PORTAL: A secret portal! Grandma (Unn Vibeke Hol, on the right) is an old tram repairman and knows a secret way to get to the North Pole tram. Granddaughter Alva (Olivia Christine Andersson Thompson) is happy to join! Photo: Dag Jenssen The story is still weaker than in 2021. There are some grown-up phrases and words here, but the involvement of the children means that you still don’t experience it as very foreign. Even if the ending is abrupt – hang up your wish and go home, as it were – the feeling of having been part of something magical for a long time remains. Because with imagination anything can happen, Feil theater is proof of that. And the mix between fabulous fantasy and the harsh realities of life, such as the fact that someone you love will eventually die, is close to life and real for children. Magical landscapes The scenography is imaginative and elaborate from room to room. The humor is strongly present: the ticket taker who does not realize that the people he is chasing are standing right in front of his nose. Or the brain surgeon with such long fingers that he needs help to get the smallest thing done. LIMITED TOOLS: Not easy to be a brain surgeon when you have such far too long fingers. But with the help of the children, the doctor (Amanda Hedvig Strand) can fix most things. Photo: Dag Jenssen The thrill of being chased could be used even better, it could be even more dangerous to sneak around to find the way to the North Pole. Then it should rather be that it is a snap to repair the tram line when the damage is caused by climate change. If only it were that simple! But in the game, anything goes. I think the North Pole projections of Feil teater are very, very strong the first time you experience them. And I wish all children in Oslo – all children in general – to take part in this magical universe. Because Feil theater knows a lot about doing things right. news reports Photo: Dag Jenssen Title: “Last stop: North Pole” Theatre: Feil Teater, played at Kloden theater Idea, concept and direction: Vilde Johannessen and Sebastian Skytterud Myers Screenplay: Sebastian Skytterud Myers Skodesplayers: Unn Vibeke Hol, Alisandra Riber Sparre, Olivia Christine Andersson Thompson, Lars Halvor Andreassen, Sebastian Skytterud Myers and Amanda Hedvig Strand Scenographer: Tobias Lehrskov-Schmidt Carpenters: Trond Håvard Gamst, Darius Buczkowski and Pål André Hasselvold Costume designer: Christina Lovery Lighting, video and poster: Thomas Gallagher Sculpture and installation designer : Frida Vige Helle Music: Nils Oortwijn Play until: 31 January 2024
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North Pole” at Feil theater – Reviews and recommendations
