It feels great when actor Sverre Anker Ousdal, in his 79th year, takes hold of the cane and slowly walks into the light on the National Theatre’s main stage. When he stands there all alone on stage and delivers lines in a Flekkefjord dialect where the words almost sing, it feels as if Ousdal has come home. Home to the theater he retired from about ten years ago, but also home to the language. The words are taken from a deeper place when he speaks his native dialect. It fits well in the role of Isak Borg, the almost 80-year-old doctor who returns home to his childhood strawberry farm. Popularity and feelgood Ousdal’s solid performance is almost worth the ticket alone. The performance as a whole is characterized by good acting performances: Anne Marit Jacobsen as the maid Agda and Anne Krigsvoll as Isak Borg’s mother are great examples. BISTER: Anne Krigsvoll plays Isak Borg’s cold mother with great conviction. In the background: Laila Goody as Marianne. Photo: Erika Hebbert Those who expect a theater experience similar to the film will not necessarily get it. For “Strawberry Farm” differs from “Smultronstället” in basic atmosphere. “The Strawberry Place” is brighter, lighter, more hopeful. And that even though “Smultronstället” is considered one of Bergman’s brighter films. Director Johannes Holmen Dahl has this time thrown himself into theater that dares to be both popular and feel good. Ingmar Bergman Photo: – / AFP Bergman was born on 14 July 1918 in Uppsala, and died on 30 July 2007 in Fårö. His full name was Ernst Ingmar Bergman. He was a film director, theater instructor and theater director, and is considered one of the most important filmmakers in the second half of the 20th century. Bergman began his career in the theater in 1937 as manager of Mäster Olofgården’s theater company in Gamla stan in Stockholm. In 1940 he became assistant director at the Opera. In the same year, in 1940, he was associated with the Swedish Film Industry as a screenwriter, including on the film Hets (1944), for which he was also assistant director. When he became manager of Hälsingborg’s city theater in 1944, he also became the country’s youngest theater manager. In the period 1946-1949 he was an instructor at the Gothenburg City Theatre. His directorial debut with the film Kris in 1946 was not considered a success. The films It rains on our love (1946) and Hamnstad (1948) were important films for Bergman. The film Fängelse (1949), the first film he made with his own script, was a turning point. Bergman had a permanent photographer with him on his films, namely cinematographer Sven Nykvist. He gathered his own team of actors who often appeared in his films. Some of them are: Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Erland Josephson and Ingrid Thulin. Liv Ullmann joined last of all, but worked for a long time and very closely with Bergman. Bergman was married five times, and had nine children. He lived with Liv Ullmann in the period 1965-1970, and together they had a daughter, Linn Ullmann. Source: wikipedia and Store norske lexikon Minor horror The film “Smultronstället” starts with one of Isak Borg’s nightmares in which he sees himself as living death. It is effective and frightening, and the use of means is precise. In the theater version, Ousdal stands on stage and tells about the same nightmare. The old man on the empty stage paints the picture of nocturnal nightmare calmly and composedly. It is such that you have to laugh with him, and at the same time it is easy to visualize the dream. It’s entertaining, and not at all as terrifying as in the movie. This is how it continues, restrained and light-hearted, but with temperature. Exemplified by Anne Marit Jacobsen as a maid full of pent-up emotions. COMIC TIMING: Anne Marit Jacobsen contributes the usual apt lines as the maid, Miss Agda. Photo: Erika Hebbert “Smultronstället” is considered one of the very first road movies. In the story as a car journey from Stockholm to Lund, but for Isak it is also a journey within himself, a retrospective of life. The inner journey is triggered by him and his daughter-in-law Marianne (Laila Goody) visiting his childhood home. There he finds his strawberry place, and memories from the past play out. These are not beautiful memories. Isak appears as a cold fish, an emotionally blunted character. But hope sparkles like rubies over the performance: From the rediscovery of the strawberry patch, red confetti sprinkles onto the stage throughout the rest of the performance and settles like a layer, a growing strawberry patch. The color red is linked to strong symbolism: Love, blood, life and death. And strawberries. WARMING STRAWBERRY SPRAY: Åkerman (Yusuf Toosh Ibra) feels a debt of gratitude towards the doctor, and lets him fill up with petrol for free when the car needs a top-up on the way to Lund. Back: Laila Goody as Marianne and Sverre Anker Ousdal as Isak Borg. Strawberry confetti is sprinkled around them, which is about to form the strawberry place of childhood. Photo: Erika Hebbert No abyss The journey itself is solved in two ways: Through frontal play, where the characters are placed closely, and the way they look towards is the audience area. In addition, the turning scene is used for all it’s worth. Isak and Marianne (and the other passengers) are transported round and round while red flakes sprinkle over them and the guitarist Michael Krumins accompanies them with music that gives the feeling of a summer holiday. CHEERER THAN BERGMAN: “The Strawberry Place” has become a cheerful show. Not least because of light-hearted musical elements that make the road between Stockholm and Lund a journey reminiscent of a summer holiday. Photo: Erika Hebbert / Nationaltheatret This cheerful movement allows the characters to take in and embrace life. Bergman’s abyss, the original sin in the form of emotional coldness, turns into simpler matter to deal with here. It feels easy, but at the same time it is there as the premise of the show. Based on that premise, the show works well. Moreover, it is easy to be seduced by the charm and warmth. Admittedly, Isak does not see a good man when he meets himself at the door. But through kindness and acceptance from others, he realizes that it’s never too late to change. He doesn’t face the bad memories with bitterness, but with something more warm, with a determination that things will work out. Comfort in hard times Passengers are picked up on the car journey and become characters from Borg’s life. These people have more temperament than in the film, and the situations they play out are at times even more pushed towards the caricature. Both Bergman and Dahl portray these situations so that Isak will see how hopelessly he has chosen to behave towards those who have been close to him in life, but Dahl makes it lively and light-hearted. Isak Borg has been called a Scandinavian zombie. Ousdal doesn’t play him like that. If so, he is a particularly gentle and sociable specimen. COLD, BUT NO ZOMBIE: John Emil Jørgensrud plays Alman, a character who mirrors Isak Borg’s ruthless coldness towards the people he has been close to in his life. In the performance, the role of Alman is stretched towards the caricature. It helps to emphasize how helpless you become when you distance yourself from others. Here with Sverre Anker Ousdal as Isak Borg. Photo: Erika Hebbert Although Bergman’s seriousness is obscured by the swirling heat from sprinkling red strawberries, this sprinkling also helps make “The Strawberry Place” a performance of hope. It’s cheerful, warm and entertaining in a dark time. As a performance, it works well as a feelgood in frozen times. As a Bergman purification, it is not as sharp. news reviewer Photo: Pernille Sandberg Title: “Strawberry House” Where: Nationaltheatret Original title: “Smultronstället” Playwright: Ingmar Bergman Director and adaptation: Johannes Holmen Dahl Translation: Arne Lygre With: Sverre Anker Ousdal, Anne Marit Jacobsen, Laila Goody, Hanna-Maria Grønneberg, Elias Holmen Sørensen, Andreas Stoltenberg Granerud, John Emil Jørgensrud, Birgitte Larsen, Anne Krigsvoll, Trond Espen Seim, Yusuf Toosh Ibra, Michael Krumins. Mask designer: Hege Ramstad Scenographer and costume designer: Nia Damerell Choreographer: Kristin Ryg Helgebostad Lighting designer: Norunn Standal Dramaturg and editing: Hege Randi Tørressen Composer: Alf Lund Godbolt Date: 21 January–9. May 2023 Hi! I review 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. PORTRAIT: Sverre Anker Ousdal has had an outstanding career both on stage and in film, but in 2008 he lost his sight. Despite this, he still does acting assignments. What is it like to be on stage without being able to see?
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“The Strawberry Farm” at the Nationaltheatret – Reviews and recommendations
