Of interest on the stages in Oslo now:

The Nationaltheater is currently running four classics: two Ibsen plays, “Twelve Shillings Opera”, and “Long Days Journey into Night”. On one of the smaller stages is a new production called GENANSE OG VERDIGHET (Diffidence and Worth). The show is an adaptation of a novel by the popular Norwegian author Dag Solstad and already sold out.

Torshovteatret is setting up a family production of “1001 Nights”. And on their second stage: “The Vagina Monologues” finally translated into Norwegian and performed by Monna Tandberg.

Det Norske Teatret is staging the final performances of ”Some Day My Prince Will Come”- an adaptation of a Kafka short story. The production is a cooperative project between Det Norske Teatret and the regional theater Haugesund Teater and performed by Ingrid Jørgensen.

Here in Stavanger:

”Jeppe På Berget” by Ludvig Holberg opens on November 4 at Rogaland Teater and I was at the final dress rehearsal last night.

Jeppe is a poor farmer in Denmark-Norway who drinks. The play is a Danish-Norwegian classic, and last night when Jeppe recited his aside “Everyone says Jeppe drinks, but. . .” the audience finished the line for him: “. . . no one says why.” Jeppe’s wife sends him to town with money to buy soap and instead Jeppe buys liquor. The stumbling, singing drunk finally passes out. The Baron and his staff find the unconscious Jeppe and decide to play a trick on him. They strip him and put him in the Baron’s bed and when Jeppe wakes, they convince him that he is the Baron. Jeppe’s found Paradise. However, the trick backfires in an unexpected way and the real Baron learns how power corrupts. The cuckolded and hen-pecked Jeppe becomes cruel and threatens to kill his “staff” and rape their wives.

In Danish/Norwegian literary history, Ludvig Holberg stands alone in the 18th century. He can be seen as a comedic counterpart to Ibsen. Holberg’s social commentary bites and his humor is both crude and visual. Last night’s performance was filled with farts, spitting and breast-grabbing. Since the class distinctions so important to Holberg’s comedy no longer exist, the director chose to emphasize Jeppe’s status as a soldier in peacetime to demonstrate the kind of powerlessness of the lower classes. A significant re-working of the text takes this post-modern production from the 18th century through WWII, Vietnam and IRA terrorism to the present day civil wars in Africa. The production is peppered with German and French and a large portion of English. One could also interpret the use of “popular culture English” (song texts and the overuse of the word “fuck”) as a political statement about the power of the United States. . . Then again, perhaps this ex-pat. is just being too sensitive.

It would be unfair to review the production three days before the premiere, but it is obvious this classic has been tooled with the goal of bringing in a younger, broader audience. I’m not sure that spicing the production with junkies and nude men will satisfy the crowd. There’s good slapstick and satire, and then there’s cheap tricks

© 2000 Ren Powell ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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