Kunstnersamtaler - Guri Glans og Joakim Borgen

Hi! Hi! Here we are. Nice to be here. What do you do? We are making performing arts for a young audience. To start with us - I’m Joakim, chairman of the board of Madam Pysj That’s just a administrative title, because we all work together. Madam Pysj started in 2012 with making summer theatre, that became our introduction to performing arts and we had a vision to make the children laugh. And how do you do that? Our humour might be a bit for the adults. Where it is a bit too abstract for the kids, you can hear the adults laugh, and then the kids laugh.

01:43 - You can meet the different types and ages of your audience, at different levels, but they often laugh when others are laughing. So we wanted to experiement with this. So for some years now, we have researched humour for children and youths. - You have made a lot of performances with the letter “Å” Yes, that’s been a concept. To be honest, I studied copyright at the University. There I read about the law of parody. Copyright is different in each country. In USA, for example, they have their own rules.

02:54 - When you make a parody in Norway, you should get as close to the original as possible, or else it is not a parody. - And then you get problems with the copyright? And you have used this artistically? We started with old scripts, that no longer was part of the copyright. What did you make? Treasure Island With “Å”? Treasure Island is a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, And Little Red Riding Hood. But why not make something that is made today? So we challenged ourselves on what would be within the copyright law. Our first reaction was that it was illegal.

03:57 - To use these movies? But after a semester at the University, I started realizing that we could do it. And then we made Star Wårs (with Å). Before that we actually made Billy Elliåt (with Å) I would have loved to see that Star Wårs (med Å) was the first performance where we went all in for the young audience, and when we discovered The Cultural Schoolbag. - What happened to the humour when you met the kids through The Cultural Schoolbag? At schools there are few adults in the room? The teachers were there. For what age is the Star Wårs-performance? It is for everyone. Not high school, but for elementary and junior high. We performed for 1.-7.

, and when we moved towards junior high, the performers were afraid. When the first performance for youths was closing up, we suddenly realized: This will be very emberassing - for us! To play a performance for kids - to youngsters. - What happened? It was no problem at all. You meet your audience in the room. We used the techniqe by illustrating - “We are adults, you are young people, and together we will watch a show for kids.” What about you and the companies your work with? I have worked a lot with three companies during my, oh god, 25 years on the road. Both as producer and performer.

06:28 - Teater Joker, where I started, and Teater NIE And Jo Strømgren Kompani, which I joined for 13 years. - Well-known companies in The Cultral Schoolbag system Yes, all three of them, NIE and Teater Joker Jo Strømgren Kompani has brought a lot of international touring also. Teater Joker has been in the system from the beginning in Møre and Romsdal county, before it became national So in my early 20’s I played seventeen weeks non stop, A beginners mistake! You say yes, and then you suddenly understand that you haven’t been home for weeks. But what a wonderful experience to have, and we are still working. Soon Joker premiers our new performance which is based on fairy tales from around the world.

07:40 - - Do you make performances for a young audience only? No, none of these companies make performances for children only. All of them makes performances for children, youngsters and adults. And common for all of the projects is the idea “This is something we have to make a performance about” And then the audience and their age is decided after that, it is developed through the work. And like with the fairytale performance we’re doing now, we’re thinking it’s for everyone. A three year old can watch this with his great grandmother and have an experience.

08:23 - But, is that because it is a fairytale? It might be because it’s a fairytale for that age group, yes. But there are some shows I’ve played in, like Minnenes Museum that has a theme of suicide that isn’t suitable for the smallest kids. Of course. But it can be played for pretty young kids and all the way up. When it comes to fairytales. It’s something that everybody can enjoy. Does it exclude making a fairytale performance for only young or old? No, I don’t think so. It depends on which FORMSPRÅK you choose. We haven’t chosen to make performances only for kids for instance.

09:13 - On the contrary, we’ve chosen to make performances were we try to take away everything that points to a specific age group, and put the story in focus. The clean storytelling that the whole audience can indulge in. It’s like now, I’m sitting with a cup from Seanse in Volda, where we have been to a development week There we played a performance for kindergardners and adults. And I think it worked for both. Neither were a better audience than the other. And that is something I really believe in. I belive that the good theatre can be experienced by everyone. Almost. Even if I as an adult watch a show for babies, I enjoy watching that expression. And I don’t think that I don’t understand it because I’m not a baby. But I cant’ know how the babies experience it of course. But, ehm, because you’ve worked within the independent field…

10:18 - Why is it so special to work towards performing arts for kids and youngsters? I believe, this is only my opinion, us who work in fringe theatre decide for our selves to make art for that age group. Rather than being imposed to do it like the institutional theatres. Or, they have to because they get a lot of audience and before christmas they should have a show for families and all that. The companies I’ve worked with have chosen to work with this age group and think it’s the worlds most important audience. For me, it really is. And for NIE and Teater Joker, those are the age groups we want to perform for. Make something for.

11:13 - Not because we have to, but because we want to. Yes, I recognise the feeling from the first time I traveled with DKS. Didn’t really know how it was going to be. I was used to making a show, promote it and try to sell tickets. And when the audience got there, they were usually happy with the show. But it was hard to get people to buy the tickets. Now, we came to “sold out”-shows. Forced audience? Forced audience. But they were there, and they didn’t have any expectations either. Not too many at least. For our shows with DKS, it was nice that they ended up never finishing. Because when we were done playing, there was always a new show to play the next day were we could play it even better.

12:21 - So we continued to develop the show all the time. And that was all of a sudden a new dimension of making theater for kids and youngsters. That it didn’t need to be completed in some way. No, it develops. And that is something a lot of people have asked me about. Because there are some of the shows I’ve done, like Minnenes Museum which has been played over 500 times. People are like “Oufh! Doesn’t it get boring?” No, I never think it’s boaring. Because the audience and often the place you’re playing in, is new. Almost every day. The audience is new every day. And that’s what’s so amazing about theatre. It’s alive. Ever changing with the audience. Every day. Yes, you work with it. Always something you can improve. Was it something rewarding about the audience, place and the show improving in a new way every day? So, like a trinity that’s quite uniq. I would say that what DKS has done for, like… I’ve been doing this for what.. 20 years. Over 20 years.

13:40 - And it’s been, first of all, an amazing opportunity for performing arts in Norway To be able to work with an audience that’s the most important age group. And there has been a huge development in perfomances for kids and youngsters in Norway. Because of DKS it’s been an explosive increase of people who think it’s important to work with it. The thing that’s missing, in my opinion. Is what we might get here with Kloden. A window to show what actually is out there. For the audience that doesn’t exist within the schools. Yes. And DKS is the best example for a proper democratic project. I love it. It gives every child in Norway the opportunity to experience performing arts that’s, hopefully, internationally proclaimed. And I think that is brilliant. It’s so important. But you touched on the subject of wanting to make it. That is starts with wanting to make.. Yes, so were you. Saying that you wanted to see if the adult humor worked for children. But you are an artist collective? Yes.

15:02 - How do you come up with ideas? Can you say like “I think this movie is fun!” or? I saw you’re going to do Harry Potter with Å. Yes. We’ re going to do that. Well, all of us can come up with ideas. And our view on ideas is that… Since I touched on the subject of copyright, All ideas already exist. It’s about who uses them and how you use them. It’s important for us that every idea is listened too. You have to be open to the fact that anything could happen. Isn’t that sort of the theatres advantage? Yes. In Teater Joker we have a motto.

“If you loose the shows playfulness, you loose it’s life”. It refers to that. For us as well. And absolutely how I experience NIE. If the idea is good enough, everybody is in on it. Yes. And I think that the audience and often kids and youngsters, think it’s fun to watch actors that are having fun. Yes. And adults that are playing. I often get questions “How old are you?” I’m 45. “What?! Are you older than my mom?” That is something they can’t understand. They think it’s really wired. Yes. And I think it’s so important to see that it is still possible to play.

16:42 - Yes, you travel around like a role model on being an adult as well. On how it’s possible to be alternative adults. Yes, it’s very important! Yes, I believe so as well. There are often teachers, And parents! My self included. Yes, people that are raising children And that is something that we somehow do as actors as well. Just not… Kinda opposite? Yes, it’s sort of a journey. Very short. We get an insight into their life. And maybe we can stay there as an inspiration. Yes. You touched on it. Yes, I mentioned it yesterday that I’m thinking about why I think this audience is so important. it’s because with kids and youngsters, this is something we know now, their brains are developing. And their impressions are a lot stronger than what we adults can perceive. We’ve become so… Numb? Yes! Numb.

17:45 - While with them, they are open to everything. So as an artist, you have a unique opportunity to show that life can also be this. If you’re having a hard time, this can be the solution. And it’s allowed to dream. It’s allowed to hope. And I’ve gotten so much feedback on, with completely different projects, that This made a difference in my life. And that makes me think that it’s not possible to work with something that is more important or better than this. To be allowed in.. It’s not just “to-de-loo”.

18:21 - But we have a real possibility to influence their lives. Yes, and it doesn’t take longer than a maths class. No. And it can stay with them for the rest of their lives. Yes, the rest of their lives. And I’m so old, that I now meet adults that’s seen shows in DKS that has changed their lives. Made them want to become an actor, start to write or not take their lives suddenly. It can be all of the spectrum. Yes, everything. It’s amazing.

And that’s why it so important and, 19:02 - I have a huge respect for it. I have to say. That opportunity that we are given, or that we take our selves. ‘Cause that’s something we do. In fringe theatre. It’s not that we get this task. We want it. Therefore we work our asses off to be aloud to be there as well. What’s your vision? It’ s that. To be aloud to create shows that can make a difference. In the lives of those who are watching. Both in a big and small scale. That you provide something that means so much to me, that it can mean something for you as well.

19:45 - Where does the idea come from? Or, you’ve probably come up with a lot of ideas. But where do they come from? In Teater Joker we have, in many ways, a flat work structure. We are four core members. Me, Nils Peter Underland, Kari Ravnefjell, who’s just become theatre director That will be exciting to see how that works out! I’m just kidding. And Håkon Strøm. Everybody has equal opportunity to air their ideas, say they’ve read this book or I’ve seen something, dreamt this last night. Yes. And why did it become you four instead of two troops or four troops? That… I had seen Nils Petter Underland on stage. Early. And I took the same education as him. Le Coq in Paris.

20:38 - And then I simply snuck up on him and did not let go. So you kinda look up to each other in a way? Yes, in a way. And Håkon.. I’ve been doing theatre since my youth. So I knew him from my time in kids/youth theatre in Oslo. And Kari came in as an actor in one of our productions. So it’s a mix between coincidences and intention that made the four of us become the core. And that’s the way it is with NIE as well. That you meet people that you experience has the same purpose and goal somewhere. People you can take in and keep. In our meeting with actually playing a show throughout a school year, like we’ve done with Star Wars this year and last, is that we have the opportunity to become a sort of wandering institution. That isn’t stationary. ‘Cause we become a small administration and performers. We’re sort of an institution, as well as you At least we’re a small production unit.

And then you have to learn everything within that unit. So it’s really good. DKS is not only for the school children, it’s a school for us as performers, technicians and producer and everything at once. Yes, ‘cause it isn’t any doubt that to survive in fringe theatre you’re dependent to run the production as if it was a theatre. Yes, absolutely. If not, it becomes something like a hobby. The way many think acting and theatre is. A straw into the treasury. It is more than people that only wants to have fun and… It is a job. Yes, it is a theatre. Yes, it is. Absolutely.

22:45 - And think you do yourself a favor by thinking about it as a theatre as well. Not only that you go around and excuse your self. ‘Cause that is something I experience that actors do. That do children’s theatre, excuse them selves? Yes. Or often within the independent field. That actors might feel that we are in the way of people. If we take up any room. And that we are very grateful for every opportunity we get. And that something we absolutely should be. But do you think, or experience… Because you are younger than me, that working with performing arts for kids and youngsters are still something that’s looked down upon? Or something you do just for the money? Personally I don’t look at it that way. But I might see that kind of attitude elsewhere. I hope that attitude dies out. I really do. ‘Cause it’s completely wrong. Have you experienced it being viewed that way earlier? Yes, I would.

Making theatre for kids/youngster was for a long time, as well as art as a whole… ‘Cause you don’t see it in media, there’s so little money going that way and so on. But with DKS, the status has been increased. It’s still a long way left though. There are a lot of people that think it’s easy to play theatre for kids and youngsters. But they are the most ruthless age group ever. You said so your self, you were afraid when you were going to play for a junior high school. And that is something I think we’re going to continue to be a part of. Increasing the status. Telling people that this is the most important thing we can do as performance artists. Yeah! We can’t touch each other. And more important than ever, now during corona. People are longing and starving after the actual meetings on stage. The energy between actors and the young audience. It’s more important than ever. Yes.

25:10 - And thats precisely what, in the series of measures towards increasing the status, Scenekunstbrukt does by making a stage in Oslo that is used to show what’s out and about on the roads. Which has increased the quality of those shows. There is a lot that’s reaching for the top. I can’t wait for that opening party at Kloden. It’ll probably be fun. I can see that children would be excited for a stage for them. Yes, and also for us as performing artists. A meeting point. ‘Cause that is something we need. Good meeting points. A good initiativ of Scenekunstbruket to let us who are out on the roads get to know each other. Yes, very nice! Thank you so much for the opportunity to sit here and talk away! About what’s important of course. It was nice to meet you! Nice to meet you too! And toitoi with Harry Potter with Å! .