On the 18th and 19th August ATC and Company of Angels presented Ghosts of Past and Present, two evenings of rehearsed play readings by emerging Norwegian playwrights in association with the Arcola Theatre and supported by the Norwegian Embassy. The two plays were Blue sky, green forest by Bjørnar L. Teigen and Buy Nothing Day by Kim Atle Hansen.
The readings were directed by myself. The wonderful cast consisted of Lloyd Gorman, Amrita Acharya, Eloise Secker, Laura Prior, Hannah Pierce and Alex Packer. Lloyd Gorman also composed excellent melodies for the songs performed in Buy Nothing Day. Philip Thorne and I translated the plays, working from existing literal translations by Svein Solenes (Blue sky, green forest) and Kim Atle Hansen (Buy Nothing Day).
We were delighted that Bjornar L.Teigen, the writer of Blue sky, green forest, was able to come from Norway to see the readings. He seemed pleased with how we’d dealt with translating his play and putting it on stage, so I’m very happy about that!
The Norwegian readings were part of ATC’s Spin Off program and took place at the Arcola Theatre before the performance of ATC/Arcola Theatre’s production of Ghosts or Those Who Return by Henrik Ibsen, presented in a new version by Rebecca Lenkiewicz. The ATC production was directed by Bijan Sheibani.
For more information see www.atctheatre.com or www.companyofangels.co.uk, or http://www.atctheatre.com/index.php?plid=78&show=info
- Oystein