It is said that the Swedish playwright August Strindberg wrote “The Dance of Death” during a hectic October week. Almost like in a raptus. That is probably one of the reasons why the play is experienced so intensely. “Dødsdansen” is about a married couple who hate each other deeply, but who stick together against all odds. They are, so to speak, isolated from the outside world on the small island they live on, and the other islanders they have come to terms with, all as one. It is a lonely, almost wasted life. When one day they are visited by a relative, a verbal dance of death is staged at the couple’s house. TRIANGLE DRAMA: Edgar (Jon Øigarden) and Alice (Pia Tjelta) have hated each other for 25 years. When the relative Kurt (Thorbjørn Harr) comes to visit, it triggers a cascade of revenge, hatred and desire. Photo: Erika Hebbert / Nationaltheatret Recognizable and poisonous Strindberg’s play is full of dark humour, it is recognizable in all its poisonous stings. On the intimate and round stage at the Torshovteatret, the Nationaltheatret has every opportunity to create a nerve-wracking and thrilling drama between the spouses and the cousin who comes to visit. But it obviously makes great demands on the detail when such an intense drama is to be followed by an audience that sits so close to the stage that they are almost part of it. The setting is set at about the time Strindberg wrote it in: The telegraph is in place, the chaise longue as well, we are in a furnished home about 100 years ago. Alice (Pia Tjelta) is dressed in a contemporary dress with beautiful details, Edgar (Jon Øigarden) in a carelessly dressed captain’s uniform. TERRIBLE ATMOSPHERE: Tjelta and Øigarden go hard from the start with furious lines, which occasionally dampens the dynamic of the performance. Photo: Erika Hebbert / Nationaltheatret Angry lines Director Marit Moum Aune has wanted to take the audience straight into the couple’s marital hell from the first second: Angry lines are thrown between walls right from the start. But this also entails a piece where the characters go hard. In this way they lose the opportunity to tighten the screw especially much more, they miss out on the thousands of shades of toxic tricks this married couple has probably learned to use during their 25-year-long unhappy life together. This means that Tjelta, for example, gets less to play on, which in this performance seems limiting to her body language and gestures. DANCE OF DEATH: Alice (Pia Tjelta) on the chaise longue after her husband (Jon Øigarden) has been close to death. In the background: Thorbjørn Harr as cousin Kurt. Photo: Erika Hebbert / Nationaltheatret Where Tjelta and partly also her cousin Kurt (Thorbjørn Harr) have to work in this somewhat limited space, Jon Øigarden can throw his captain into all sorts of madness. In a condensed chamber play, he is the most unstable of the three, the sick, the one who rages and who, in his constant steps towards death, takes liberties both verbally and physically. Øigarden is the performance’s joker, the one who arouses the audience’s laughter and at the same time manages to play a nuanced tragic figure. At Øigarden, there is a team that is not as easily brought out by the fellow players this time. With that, he brings the necessary nerve into the performance. SAVE THE DANCE: Øigarden’s character can play out unpredictable rage, which is welcome in the performance. Photo: Erika Hebbert / Nationaltheatret Øigarden’s dance “Play for me”, says Edgar to Alice at the very start of the performance. “What shall I play?” she asks. “You don’t like my repertoire.” But the piano that Strindberg wrote in the script is not on stage. So there is no instrument to play in a stage shot that otherwise shows a furnished home. A dance of death is a well-known motif from both art and music history. And in Strindberg’s piece, the stinging lines are like throw after throw in a constant crescendo. Nils Petter Molvær’s sound image works well to highlight the gloomy atmosphere, but it could have been exciting if the compositions challenged and opposed the couple dancing to death to a greater extent. It could also open up the possibility of greater musicality between the actors. COUSIN AND COUSIN: Thorbjørn Harr and Pia Tjelta in August Strindberg’s “Dance of Death” at the National Theater’s stage in Torshov. Photo: Erika Hebbert / Nationaltheatret Aune has also cut something in the script, among other things the maid has been removed. It is also a choice that gives the actors, perhaps especially Tjelta, less to play on. That is why Øigarden’s eruptions and bridal showers are central to this performance. The “Dødsdansen” at the National Theater is exciting and entertaining enough, but at the same time could have been more dynamic in the build-up of intensity. Jon Øigarden’s more and less elegant leaps save this time the National Theatre’s dance of death. news reviews Photo: Øyvind Eide Title: “Dødsdansen” By: August Strindberg Where: Nationaltheatret When: 15 October – 20 December With: Thorbjørn Harr, Pia Tjelta and Jon Øigarden Director: Marit Moum Aune Composer: Nils Petter Molvær Set designer and costume designer : Even Børsum Lighting designer: Agnethe Tellefsen Make-up artist: Eva Sharp Playwright: Oda Radoor Producer: Rune Reksten Inspector: Kine Sørbøe Prompter: Vibeke Brathagen Stage manager: Njål Øwre Lighting master: Ida Klevstul Burdal Sound manager: Bendik Toming Production manager costumes: Cathrine Engehagen Bråthen Costume technicians: Gracia Cerrato Thorsberg, Britt Holm Procurator: Martin Brage Jonassen
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“Døddansen” at the National Theater – Reviews and recommendations
