Seriousness, entertainment, and joy in 2023

Last week, we launched Kilden 2023 program!

In Peter Shaffer’s play *Amadeus*, all the arts come together in an energetic, colorful, and lavish musical theater production. With 10 actors, 24 musicians, 8 singers, and 4 dancers, this is a major production the Southern Norway region has rarely seen the likes of! In addition, there will be a number of classical works, and the theater season concludes with a heartwarming Christmas show for the whole family.

But first up next year is one of the world’s most performed contemporary playwrights, Jon Fosse, with The is the Wind. It premieres at Grimstad Kulturhus on January 28, before touring Agder, and concludes with a run at Kilden February 16. The play is directed by Kristiansand native Tyra Tønnessen, with Leiko Fuseya handling set and costume design.  

One of the great classics 

Next up is one of the true great classics of world literature. Kristiansand natives Ole Johan Skjelbred (director/set designer) and Ane Aasheim (costume designer/set designer) return once again to their hometown following the success of *Mysteries* by Knut Hamsun in 2020. This time, they tackle The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

– *The Idiot* is a rich novel with a large cast of characters, which in Kilden’s adaptation becomes a colorful, burlesque, humorous, and musical main stage production with ten actors, so there’s plenty to look forward to, says theater director Valborg Frøysnes.

Another classic in the repertoire is Gudmund Vindsun’s coming-of-agenovel *Villskudd*from 1979. When the novel was published, it quickly became a bestseller, and *Fædrelandsvennen* wrote in its review that the book should be banned. This was because it described a homosexual teenage romance. In 2018, a report from the Center for Gender Equality clearly showed that living conditions for queer people in Agder were far worse than elsewhere in the country. “Many struggle with physical and mental health issues. Queer people in Agder have attempted suicide to a greater extent than the rest of the queer population in Norway,” the report concludes. Next year, this queer classic will finally be adapted for the stage for the first time.

SERIOUSNESS AND HUMOR 

The theater director acknowledges that the overarching theme of the 2023 theater program is, in many ways, more serious than this year’s program. 

– Artists and theater institutions are, after all, meant to engage with the world around them. And the world looks far more serious today than it did just a year ago. In tougher times, people often turn back to the classics. It’s almost as if we’re seeking insight into the times we live in from those who came before us. That said, there should also be entertainment and joy in serious times, so there’s plenty of humor and music in what we’re presenting. And we’re wrapping up the year with a proper Christmas show for the whole family: *Snøsøstera* by Maja Lunde and Lisa Aisato which is suitable for children ages 6 and up, she says.

*Snøsøstera* is a collaborative project between Kilden performing arts centre Det Norske Teatret. While the production will premiere at Kilden 2023, it is already being performed this year at Det Norske Teatret. Following the premiere on Saturday, October 22, NRK’s reviewer noted that the production could be even bigger and more meaningful than “Reisen til julestjernen” itself, and Aftenposten gave it a perfect score of 6.