“THE STATE & ECSTASY” is a performance with dance, installation, music and poetry. Five committed denizens of the theatre join together in a collective with existential and political themes.
The result is a subjective and exquisite look at individualisation and freedom, and the inner desire - through arts and politics - to reach collective ecstacy.
Embrace the collective. Embrace the state. Yes to the state! Yes to the collective!
In this performance we encounter amongst others the theatre artist Amund Sjølie Sveen who mounted and performed in our opening production ”NORDTING” in 2014; a night which sparked off a blaze of debate and discussion. The sound sculptor comes originally from Vadsø but is now resident in Oslo. He revels in creating art which is critique and which fuels debate.
The initiative behind "The State and Ecstasy" comes from the pen of theatre director and dramaturgist Jon Tombre who is well known in the Norwegian theatrical scene both within institutional theaters, but also for developing new theatre (The project of opposites) and crossover collaborations with free theatre groups. He was amongst many things the director of The Wizard of Oz at the Hålogaland Theatre last year. Script writer Tale Næss is also taking part in this project, and is well known from the Hålogaland Theatre, and other crossover artistic constellations.
Liv Hanne Haugen from the dance mileau in Tromsø was a central figure in ”NORDTING” in 2014, and is coming with her great gift for experimental dance. Liv Hanne Haugen and Amund Sjølie Sveen are both previous recipients of the festival´s Young Artist Prize, Haugen in 1997 and Sveen in 2001.
Lawrence Malstaf is an installation artist originally from Belgium but settled in Tromsø and is celebrated for his innovative scenography in the theatre mileau. As an artist he works chiefly in the borderland between visual art and theatre, placing a strong focus upon performance art. Malstaf has worked with both Jon Tombre and Liv Hanne Haugen earlier.
This project takes up residence in the town´s old foundry which becomes an active backdrop. The location will be transformed into an installation with a lounge bar with drinks service, all within a historic location slap bang in the middle of Harstad´s old industrial centre and new cultural hub. The foundry is a symbolic bridge between the town and the new oil quarter, between the past and present, and between fishing (trawlers in the harbour) and oil (Statoil).
This production has received support form the Norwegian Arts Council.
This work has been developed with resources and funds from Dramatikkens hus.
