She is dark, the story of Tollak to Ingeborg. She gives space to a loner who doesn’t often get to tell his story from the stage: the old man who can’t find himself in all the new things. He doesn’t have a mobile phone, switches off the radio when he thinks they’re talking rubbish, and turns off the TV after watching a program where a man talks about his feelings. He belongs to the old era, does not fix the new. He is not exactly politically correct, he Tollak to Ingeborg. SAGMUGG: He’s good at working, Tollak. But after the construction goods store arrived, no one needs timber from the saw he runs. Tollak despises the new age, and it is well played by Kyrre Eikås Ottersen. Photo: Magnus Skrede Einstøing When the Riksteatret in collaboration with Teater Vestland takes Tollak around the country in the coming months, they will bring with them a story that they know can resonate widely. The show is based on Tore Renberg’s critically acclaimed novel from 2020. Because everyone knows about such a Tollak, someone who does not want the new age. In addition, Tollak hits on something in our time: something about saving oneself, managing oneself. Work hard, be free, don’t depend on others. Renberg slipped in a male ideal that may have strengthened since the book came out: He who must manage everything himself, bear everything himself, who despises needing someone, and who does not believe in compromise. DOWNSTRIP: Tollak, the sawdust and the tree. A symbol-heavy scenography by Milja Salovaara. Photo: Magnus Skrede Aleine in the menagerie Tollak is old and soon he will die. His world is small – in the theater effectively shown with a small enclosed space, a manege, filled with sawdust. Above hang a cloth, it resembles a tree. It has a red stem and light crown. The scene is saturated with symbols: Tollak’s meager possessions were the sawmill that the new era (read: building materials store) took from him. Now there are only sawdust and memories of a life filled with bad choices. Kyrre Eikås Ottersen plays Tollak, and his foresight depends on him one and all. He struggles in the sawmill, rages and despairs, Ottersen begs Tollak well. In looks, cues and physical play. Ottersen shows both the raging pain in him and the soft and sensitive nature he could become in team with his wife Ingeborg (Andrine Sæther). The contrast is central, not least because the plot is built around a criminal incident. ANGRY AND TEENAGE: Tollak is someone who doesn’t want to talk about things, doesn’t want to get into his feelings. But he is full of them. He is both the raging loner and the gentle, sensitive one. Here: Tollak (Kyrre Eikås Ottersen) in the arms of Si Ingeborg (Andrine Sæther). Photo: Magnus Skrede More to fetch Just as Tollak’s life is dark after Ingeborg disappeared, the scene is also dark. The lighting is good: the yellow, warm light on Ingeborg, the dark and gray on Tollak. Ingeborg is a memory, she is part of Tollak’s condensed narrative: Since he will soon die, he has asked the children to come, he has something he wants to tell them. In the book, Oddo, the boy Tollak and Ingeborg adopted, is central. Oddo is different, doesn’t master language and relationships, which he calls weak in ability. The dancer Sebastian Biong gave a different physical language to Oddo. At the same time, Oddo is so clean in his clothes, so tidy, he doesn’t look like someone who lives in luxury. In the vision, he lacks a broom, something that makes one believe that he can kill a dog with a neck shot, as he does in the novel. Oddo is central, but it is not visible enough, and the end of the vision did not seem completely resolved at the premiere. There is more to pick up here. STRUGGLE: Life has in many ways been a struggle for Tollak – and for every battle he has lost, he has distanced himself from society. Here he doubts his son Oddo (Sebastian Biong), whom he has adopted. Photo: Magnus Skrede Nor is the relationship with the children resolved in this vision. They do not become important in the foresight, this is especially a shame for the relationship between Tollak and his daughter Hillevi (Malene Wadel). Director Miriam Prestøy Lie allows Hillevi to play bass guitar and sing as a commentary on the action – but deepening the physical stage language Biong and choreographer Kristin Ryg Helgebostad have worked on could have included the relationship between the father and the children as well. Then you let go of the static and a bit text-heavy in that Hillevi and his brother Jan Vidar come in, deliver replicas and leave. This works perfectly fine, but again: There is more to fetch here. Not a merry evening Tore Renberg has dramatized the novel himself. He sticks close to the book, maybe the direction could tear itself looser. At the premiere, the foresight did not build up well enough towards some of the highlights. THE DANCER ON THE STAGE: Sebastian Biong’s physical stage language in the role of Oddo in “Tollak to Ingeborg” gives a lot to the show. Photo: Magnus Skrede The most important thing, a central recognition, just sort of whizzed past. It made some of the scenes a little powerless, even if Ottersen was quick to build up the intensity again. The end was marked by hints and darkness, Oddo fetching a matchbox, but nothing like fire. Again: more to pick up. It is not a cheerful evening in the theatre. But it is intense, dense and close, something that Ottersen should not miss. “Tollak to Ingeborg” is a vision with good qualities, albeit unresolved in some of the parts. The fine and unbearable Tollak to Ottersen was not easily dismissed. news reviews Photo: David Zadig Title: “Tollak to Ingeborg” By: Riksteatret/Teater Vestland By: Tore Renberg Director: Miriam Prestøy Lie Scenographer and costume designer: Milja Salovaara Martin Myrvold: Lighting designer Composer and sound designer: Selma Frida Stang Choreographic assistance: Kristin Ryg Helgebostad Producer: Silje Vigerust Vinjar Produced by: Teater Vestland and Riksteatret Length: 1 hour 45 minutes (no intermission). Date: Premiere in Førde on 28 September, then on national tour 65 places in the country
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“Tollak to Ingeborg” at the Riksteatret – Reviews and recommendations
