"Ash Cloud" is one of the first productions by the newly established theater company Antistrofe, created by playwright Karoline Una Moen and actor Mathias Asplund. The artistic team also includes actor Emma Joma Rustad and scenographer Oda Holmvik Bredvold.

- It feels absolutely incredible to be an Open Call artist with the performance 'Ash Cloud'. It will be a hugely exciting process to bring the stage text to life and explore the theme of the piece further together with the co-creators in the project. This is an important project for me and for Antistrofe Productions, which we feel very fortunate to create in collaboration with the Festival. I look forward to new impressions, lots of input, and everything I will learn along the way," says Karoline Una Moen.

Survival Strategy for Children

Ash Cloud is a performing arts project that investigates escapism and play as a survival strategy for children in unsafe situations. The performance is for everyone over 12 years and is as important for young people as for adults. The project questions the connection between internal and external crises and explores parallels between a child's experience of a mentally ill mother and a dystopian nuclear war.
"Karoline Una Moen is a promising playwright who dares to tackle difficult themes in a reflective and inviting manner. In her drama 'Ash Cloud', Karoline works with contemporary themes, a world dissolving from the perspective of children. It's fantastic to see that there are several young theater artists who take writing seriously, and Karoline Una Moen is one of the foremost in that group. I'm eager to see how the script and production evolve, and I'm already looking forward to the premiere during the Festival 2025," says festival director Ragnheiður Skúladóttir.

Northern Norwegian Playwright

Karoline Una Moen is a Northern Norwegian playwright. She holds an MFA in Writing for Stage from RCSSD in London and has started an artistic PhD in stage text from the same university. She has developed scripts in collaboration with, among others, Pikene på Broen and Unge Viken theater. In 2020, she participated in Unge Viken theater's debutant program for young playwrights and developed the piece "Break Her New," which will premiere at the same theater in 2023. Karoline is a participant in Uredd; the talent development program at Davvi Center for Performing Arts in 2023 and co-creator of the newly established theater company Antistrofe along with Mathias Nyhagen Asplund.