“YOUR snout looks like a pineapple!” says 12-year-old Nansi (Samantha Gurah) early in the musical “Listen, diary!” at the National Theatre. Judging by the children’s laughter in the hall, it’s a reasonably decent roast. Selden dagbok In 2020, Amina Sewali published a children’s novel that is not sold by many in Norway. “Listen, diary!” entered as a non-traditional publication in the popular diary genre with the “En pingles dagbok” and “Dustedagbok” series that Wirkolaer jumps to. Sewali did his own thing in the book about Nansi: The book is written in slang. Ugandan Nansi is forced to write a diary to improve her Norwegian. She has lived in Norway for two years, but the language is not quite up to par. Pronouns are free, nouns and verbs are inflected on happiness and piety. But Nansi has a great need to express herself, she writes and tells with joy and intensity about her big goal in life: To become Norway’s biggest rap star. BELIEVE IN THE DREAM: Nansi (Samantha Gurah) is an irrepressible optimist, even in a snowy Tøyen. She is going to become Norway’s biggest rap star, and that requires courage and a good mood. Photo: Jonathan Vivaas Kise Språkglede “Listen, diary!” is a classic story about growing up, about friendship and about standing up for those you love. The novel is set at Tøyen in Oslo and is intended for children aged nine and over. The theater performance for children aged six and over. Sewali’s playful, linguistic joy shines through in the theater version of the book as well. Through Nansi’s testing formulations, new words and often more precise meanings are created. Nansi’s exploratory Norwegian expands the language. At the same time, the book is full of humour, there is a good atmosphere throughout, and much of this the theater version manages to pick up – but not all. Among other things, it has to do with the feeling of an empty stage. READING DIFFICULTIES: School is important, but for Nansi the letters in the books have a life of their own. From left: Vegard Bjørshol, Samantha Gurah and Emil Rodrigo Jørgensen. Photo: Jonathan Vivaas Kise Children’s TV for tweens Multi-artist Sewali has illustrated the show throughout, as she also did with the book. On the entire back wall, colorful, moving illustrations are projected in an efficient style where the line has a fast feel. The backgrounds alternate between school, at home, outside. The animation on the back wall works well. It creates a recognizable visual universe from the book, and represents a kind of children’s TV aesthetic, like “Elleville Elfrid” for tweens. This picks up the costumes – with cartoonish, exaggerated plastic wigs, done in a style that matches Sewali’s drawn expression well. It gives the impression of a completed whole. At the same time, it gives the characters a cartoon-like feel. This in turn characterizes their feelings, which are often very clear: They are happy, angry or sad. At times, this gives the characters little to play with. FAITH TO THE BOOK’S AESTHETICS: The wigs are exaggerated, as is the costume design. It harmonizes well with the book’s visual expression and the show’s cheerful tone. Here: Marianne Hetland and Hans Magnus Hildershavn Rye. Photo: Jonathan Vivaas Kise Flat room Another challenge is that the scene in front of the drawn wall feels empty. It gives plenty of space for the dance numbers, for example for Nansi’s rap challenger Marvin (Vegard Bjørsmo) and his crew, but sometimes gives way too much space for Samantha Gurah and her co-stars when they don’t have physical backdrops to play on. It is, for example, quite strange that Nansi and her friend Ask sit on the floor when there is a sofa in the room (only that it is drawn on the back wall). This is somewhat clumsily solved. In the many narrative parts, the illustrated wall behind requires a frontal play, because the audience loses some of the contact with the characters as soon as they turn to the side. I think it is because the drawings give a rather flat room experience. COOL CHOREOGRAPHY: Dance is an important ingredient in the performance “Hear, Diary!” ). The core audience will recognize Bjørsmo as the one who did the Sami version of the Blime dance in 2020, a not insignificant attraction. Kim Fairchild has tons of attitude in the role of Nancy’s mother, she could have enjoyed more in this performance. BREWING UP FOR BATTLE: Marvin (in red) is Nancy’s ex-best friend. Now a rap battle between the two former friends is approaching. From left Hans Magnus Hildershavn Rye as Ash, Samantha Gurah as Nansi and Vegard Bjørsmo as Marvin. Photo: Jonathan Vivaas Kise Friendship and forgiveness Many deletions have been made in the story, and in particular the character Ash (Nancy’s new neighbor and friend, played by Hans Magnus Hildershavn Rye) suffers from this. The performance nevertheless manages to build credible friendships. In a thoroughly stylized universe, Bjørsmo, Rye and Gurah manage to highlight how important friends and forgiveness are in a child’s life. On one point, this is a typical Norwegian institutional theater performance: A clear diversity on stage (something that lends itself to the novel), significantly less diversity behind, in the artistic team. Institutions should work hard to even out such a bias. Amina Sewali is undoubtedly a talent who is able to communicate well with children. “Listen, diary!” as theater is more innocent and less profound than the novel, but still very engaging and fun. news reviews Photo: Jonathan Vivaas Kise Title: “Listen, diary!” When: 16 February 2023, Nydalen. Going on tour around the country. See an overview of the performances here. Produced by: Riksteatret in collaboration with Oslo Nye Teater and Hålogaland Teater By: Amina Sewali. Edited by Anders T. Andersen. Idea, concept and composer: Amina Sewali. Actors: Samantha Gurah, Hans Magnus Hildershavn Rye, Vegard Bjørsmo, Kim Fairchild, Marianne Hetland, Emil Rodrigo Jørgensen Director: Anders T. Andersen Playwright: Rania Broud Set designer and costume designer: Dagny Drage Kleiva Lighting designer: Agnethe Tellefsen Lighting designer protégé: Shiva Sherveh Sound designer: Knut Sævik Choreographer: Amie Mbye Producer: Silje Vigerust Vinjar
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“Listen, Diary!” at the Riksteatret – Reviews and recommendations
