“By the goal” at the Riksteatret – Reviews and recommendations

The Austrian author Thomas Bernhard’s writing contains a bunch of stubborn characters. Among them is the mother in “Ved the goal”, which is now staged in Norway for the first time and will tour with the Riksteatret this autumn. Divided and ruled “At the goal” is about a mother (Anne Krigsvoll) and her daughter (Josefine Frida) who live in a close, close and unhealthy relationship. In a kind of symbiosis, one might say, but also in a clear power relationship: Mother is dependent on her daughter, afraid of letting go or losing her. Therefore, she engages in a form of psychological terror, keeping her down in an eternal split and domineering round dance that is totally devoid of empathy. An infamous mother was supposed to be the perfect role for the sparkling Anne Krigsvoll. Here, however, the piece did not seem right for the premiere, as an energy the ensemble was never able to release was followed by a text that went a bit out of whack – but they were saved by a quick and good soufflé. EFFECTIVE MAKE-UP: Mother and daughter have a strong red color around their eyes. With mother (Anne Krigsvoll), this looks like worn-out fatigue, it makes her gaze sharp. With the daughter (Josefine Frida), the expression is more open, it expresses a suppressed, but not obliterated young woman. The red shows that she possesses a latent power. Photo: Pernille Sandberg Tirade about sadness Mother and daughter travel every year to the place they own on the coast. It’s harsh there, an endless coastal landscape to get lost in, and they’re looking forward to the trip. This year they have chanced to invite a playwright (Karl-Vidar Lende), a young and up-and-coming writer with whom the daughter is looking forward to spending time. The mother regrets the whole invitation. The play is like a long mother’s monologue, a tirade about life’s sorrows, the hopelessness of art, her unhappy fate, complicated relationship with her daughter and thus this regret over the invitation. The daughter rarely speaks up, and she has come to accept that this is the way it is. NARROW AND NARROW: The oppression of the daughter (Josefine Frida) is effectively expressed in the scenography’s narrow and cramped corridor – which the daughter constantly has to pass through to fetch tea and brandy for her mother (Anne Krigsvoll). Photo: Pernille Sandberg Claustrophobically oppressed Nia Damerell’s scenography has a kind of labyrinthine feel. A room in the middle where mother stays, and two small hallways on either side of it. The room and corridors have large-flowered wallpaper, and the mother’s oppression of her daughter is effectively on display every time the daughter enters the room through the one narrow corridor, which is so small that she has to walk crouched. It looks painful, depressing, claustrophobic, and in itself becomes a good picture of the relationship between mother and daughter. TANGO FOR TWO: A joyful moment in the house by the coast when the daughter (Josefine Frida) plays the wooden organ and the poet (Karl-Vidar Lende) and the mother (Anne Krigsvoll) find themselves together in a dance. Photo: PERNILLE SANDBERG But at the same time, this is a tool that easily wears itself out. This means that Josefine Frida can bring out and develop the indulgent and resigned nature of her daughter, what makes her accept, but also mildly oppose, her mother’s behaviour. But the room, the low hallway, is not challenged in its scenic use. The daughter walks crouched back and forth, never tries to crawl or use the hallway in any other way. The scenography brings out the comedy, but its function is not renewed during the performance. Sharpened sharpness Could it also be that the obviously oppressive nature of the scenography makes it more difficult to play an infamous mother? That some of the sharpness of the mother’s character is dulled by the oppressive scenography and makes Krigsvoll’s verbal accuracy a little less sharp? It is as if there is something unsolved in Bernhard’s venomous mother’s remarks in the face of a smiling, but bent and depressed daughter. I like the moments where Krigsvoll holds Josefine Frida in a firm loving grip. The movement from the home to the place by the sea is also beautifully resolved, it is the show’s definitive artistic highlight where the aesthetics of the scenography really come into their own. MOOD CREATOR: Karl-Vidar Lende as the playwright brings mood into the performance. His arrival upsets the difficult balance between mother and daughter – at least for a while. Photo: Pernille Sandberg Powerful powerlessness The playwright’s arrival is the major turning point in mother and daughter’s journey to the coast. A lot falls into place when Karl-Vidar Lende enters the stage, and the way he sharpens the comedy of Bernhard’s text is like a long-awaited redemption. When hope (ie the playwright) enters the scene, there is a slight tremor in the air that freedom is near, that mother will be put in her place. But no. Instead, it is the mother who puts both wardrobe, daughter and playwright in place. The play lifts when the powerlessness in the characters seeps through every pore. The mother’s poisonous tongue causes the thin hope of independence, freedom and love to dwindle like air escaping from a limp balloon. In this hopelessness the play is at its best. On target, in a way. But as a set-up it is still not quite up front, especially not in the first part of the play. At times it feels like struggling in the same quagmire that the characters have managed to end up in in this play. It is nevertheless well played, especially in the latter half. But two things the show can profitably develop when it now goes on tour: clearer humor and even more venom in the lines. news reviewer Photo: PERNILLE SANDBERG Title: “At the goal” Original title: “Am Ziel” Place: Riksteatret, tour in Norway By: Thomas Bernhard. Translated by: Sverre Dahl With: Anne Krigsvoll, Josefine Frida and Karl-Vidar Lende Director: Johannes Holmen Dahl Composer and sound designer: Erik Hedin Set designer and costume designer: Nia Damerell Lighting designer: Norunn Standal Sound designer: Kolbjørn Lyslo Choreographer: Kristin Ryg Helgebostad Dramaturg: Hege Randi Røressen Producer: Anita Basmo Bjørnstad



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