“Louder stands as an ultimate artistic reflection of modern times, and a voyage through theatre, technology and cultural history which pulls at the nervous system of the world weave.”
-Elin Hoeyland
For their new production, Louder, Verdensteatret went on a long journey to Vietnam and the Mekong-river. By combining robotics, video, sound, music, shadow play, object theatre and new technology, the performance takes the audience on a journey where reason ends and the spectator is drawn into an endless transformation through crossing lines of images and stories.
A telling orchestra is rigged on a rusty wire and a machine, so fragile that it is in constant danger of short-circuiting, throws a tidal wave of pictures and sounds at us. Among a pile of megaphones that hurl sound in all directions and a knot of wires so stretched that they may break at any moment, we glimpse people. People try to interact with this landscape, tugging at strings that are everywhere in the room. The strings hanging from the ceiling form the stage for a mass of figures. A mechanical puppet play takes place here-over the heads of the human figures. Louder is a storytelling orchestra that narrates a multitude of tales through sound and images. Tales from a distant past, tales from our time, about wars, river, the theatre, the nation, music, nature, technology, the journey and about exile. In the midst of this throng, we find a heart of darkness – a long, black barge on the open sea, radiating coldness and stories.
Norway’s Bessie-winning Verdensteatret is one of the most innovative and experimental companies in Norway. Their experimental use of audiovisual technology in a close dialogue with more traditional and historic tools of artistic expression results in complex orchestral works and space-related musical compositions.
Photo courtesy of Asle Nielsen
Verdensteatret is supported by Arts Council Norway and the Royal Norwegian Consulate General and the American-Scandinavian Foundation
Sept 25-28
Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7.30pm
Sunday at 5pm