With Woyzeck the director director Tabita Friis Kristensen and set and costume designer Nina Kay theater in Norway for the time. They describe the enthusiasm they have encountered at Kilden as “something truly unique.”

We meet the two Danish performing artists at a café in Kristiansand a few weeks before the premiere to hear more about their work with aof of the great pre-modernist works, which will premiere at Kilden on Wednesday, May 24. About the reception they’ve received at Kilden performing arts centre. About how they’ve developed the production. And about what they want to convey to the audience through Woyzeck.  

Down to the smallest button

— We’ve encountered a level of dedication at Kilden , quite frankly, I haven’t experienced to this extent at any of the places we’ve worked before. Without exception, the people who work here have an obvious passion for their work, and they want to play an active role in creating this production, from the major artistic decisions down to the smallest button on a costume, ” says director Tabita Friis Kristensen.  

Together with Nina Kay (set and costume design), she has traveled to Kilden Kristiansand to create her final project, which marks the conclusion of her time at the Danish National School of Performing Arts in Copenhagen. Joining them on the “Norwegian side” are Åsmund Solberg (composer), Kine E. H. Kvendseth (lighting design), and Endre Sannes Hadland (dramaturg). 

“There’s a whole team here at Kilden. And it’s been exciting to get to know the place during the weeks we’ve been working here,” says Friis Kristensen, echoed by Kay.  

Detective Mode

The process of creating *Woyzeck* began when the agreement was signed with Kilden in the spring of 2022. The decision to stage this particular play was the result of a consultation conducted together with theater director Valborg Frøysnes. Both Jon Fosse and Bertolt Brecht were discussed during the process, but the choice ultimately fell on Georg Büchner’s classic about the soldier who has no choice but to sell himself to dubious medical experiments in order to be able to support his family. 

For Friis Kristensen, the process of creating a performance often begins in a sort of detective mode.  

“I try to delve into the deeper layers quite early on. What was the author’s intention? How can the story be understood in today’s society? What is actually happening in Woyzeck’s mental journey? Questions like these. This kind of work often becomes very important in the further development of the production,” she says.  

Set and costume designer Nina Kay was quickly invited to join the creative team. Kay and Friis Kristensen have worked together on several previous occasions. Their first collaboration took place when they were both students at the Amsterdam University of the Arts, in the city where Kay still lives.  

A Cold World

— For me, it’s first and foremost about capturing the atmosphere of the play. I usually read the script and try to get a sense of the mood it leaves me with, and then I try to build on that. In Woyzeck, I was left with a distinct sense of a cold world. This likely influences both the set design and the costumes in our production of this play, says Kay, with an approving nod from director and colleague Friis Kristensen.  

The two also agree on what they want the audience to take away from seeing Woyzeck.  

Blood on his hands

“I hope people will ask themselves who really has blood on their hands in this play. Is it the individual who commits the act, or is it society, which forces the individual into this?” asks Friis Kristensen, and Kay adds:  

— Yes, and I also hope we can emphasize that care is more important than constantly measuring mental health.

Woyzeck by Georg Büchner runs at Kilden from May 24 to June 10.  

Read more about the performance here.