Grease og Ungdomskilden
Young people take on *Grease* at Kilden
In Kilden’s artist lounge, three young people are sitting and lying on separate sofas. The air in the room is stuffy. It’s clear that there has recently been a lot of activity in here. On stage, just across the hall, stagehands are busy clearing away the last remnants of tonight’s performance. The teenagers—Johannes, Naomi, and William—are catching their breath after their evening’s efforts on stage for the production *Snøsøstera*, to which Ungdomskilden is a major contributor.
Next year, Ungdomskilden will once again bring a youthful energy to a new major production: *Grease*. Many are already feeling a flutter of excitement, and perhaps a few are feeling it a little more intensely.
Love, Atle Pettersen
“It’s going to be so much fun—there are celebrities coming!” Naomi exclaims enthusiastically from the sofa, lying flat on her back, and adds, “I love Atle Pettersen!”
It is, in fact, Atle Pettersen who will star in next year’s musical production at Kilden, alongside Charlotte Brenna and Maja Christiansen, among others. It’s clear that the star-studded cast is a hit with the trio sitting—and lying—in the artists’ lounge this evening.
William, the oldest of the trio at 18, says he has a few “moves” up his sleeve that will come in handy for the musical’s choreography.
Theater brings people together
Johannes, Naomi, and William are at different stages in their lives. While the first two attend different middle schools, William is well into high school. Yet their shared interest in theater brings them together despite their different schools, ages, and backgrounds.
“My dad has taken me to see a lot of plays here at Kilden,” says William, adding that this sparked an interest that, many years later, led him to join Ungdomskilden.
“And I’m going to be an actress!” Naomi exclaims, still lying down. It turns out her interest in acting was sparked when she saw a play in Australia with her family. We never got around to talking about exactly which play Naomi saw, but there’s no doubt that it sparked her interest.
Johannes, on the other hand, developed an interest in theater on a more local level.
– “I was involved in theater in Vennesla and was encouraged to apply to UngdomsKilden, but I was only 11 years old and had to wait several years before I could join. But now I’m here,” says Johannes with the biggest grin of the evening.
Ungdomskilden states on its website that it is a theater workshop group, which might mean there will be a lot of repetition and fine-tuning. But perhaps it is precisely this in-depth focus that makes it appealing?
– I think it’s fun to take a step up from children’s theater and spend time delving deeper into the craft, rather than always working toward a specific production. He reflects on Demian Vitanza’s production *Nå*, in which the students were given only lines and had to develop their characters further on their own based on those lines.
“I would have liked to spend even more time on Nå,” he says.
Heel to the ceiling
Silje Hansen Flemmen, director of Ungdomskilden and head of children and youth programs, describes the positive atmosphere when it was announced that Ungdomskilden would be participating in Grease next year.
“It’s always exciting to see the reaction when we present a new project. *Grease* is a musical based on a movie that premiered in 1978, long before any of these young people were even born. I thought it could go either way, but the response was overwhelming,” says Silje.
Naomi is the only one who hasn't seen the movies yet, but she says she was happy when she realized there was a musical on the program.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve put on a musical at Ungdomskilden, so I think it was just as much the genre as the play itself that sparked people’s interest,” says Naomi.
“I’m no dancer, after all,” Johannes says somewhat out of the blue, shrugging slightly, “but I’ll just have to practice. I think it’ll go fine,” he continues.
In *Grease*, there's a lot of dancing and choreography, but the young people are surprisingly relaxed.
The young people have already had their first meeting with Mikkel Maanum, actor and dance captain in *Grease*. For them, this was a first taste of the challenges that await as the *Grease* universe makes its debut atperforming arts centre Kilden performing arts centre year.
“I love to dance,” Naomi says enthusiastically, still lying down with an ice pack on her hand. During tonight’s performance, she slammed her hand in a door and is trying to reduce any swelling with the ice pack.
“I actually did my first rehearsal for *Grease* with a broken leg,” she laughs, thereby establishing herself as the group’s unlucky one.
The interview is drawing to a close, and when asked who next year’s performance is suitable for, the answers are many and varied.
Johannes believes the performance is for "everyone."
Naomi wonders if it might be mainly people over 40 who will enjoy the performance, but adds at the very end:
– Everyone who loves Atle Pettersen!
Get to know the young people
Johannes Hovet
Willian Aaron Espeland.
