‘- I hope to come up with something amazing’
Tomas Glans and Katja Ebbel
– I hope to come up with something amazing
"Amadeus" by Peter Shaffer opens on September 8. The cast includes 24 musicians, ten actors, eight singers, and four dancers. Tomas Glans and Katja Ebbel view the scale of the production as both a tremendous opportunity and a major challenge.
"We’re going to make all of this work well together. Everyone has to take a chance, and then we hope to hit the mark and end up with something fantastic. It opens up even greater possibilities now that we have 24 musicians available this time, and they won’t just be sitting statically at the back of the stage, but will be used as elements in the plot," says Katja Ebbel.
Ebbel is the set and costume designer for this major production. Together with director and choreographer Tomas Glans, she discusses the opportunities and challenges in the midst of the creative process surrounding the production in a video podcast from Kilden performing arts centre.
Award-winning
Amadeus premiered in 1979 and was written by the British playwright Peter Shaffer. Since 1979, the play has enjoyed tremendous success in theaters around the world and won numerous awards. In 1984, the film adaptation was released, for which director Miloš Forman wonan Oscar. Glans and Ebbel had both seen the film before, but chose to watch it again in preparation for the performance at Kilden.
“The film sets the bar very high, but it reminded me that it’s okay to have a little fun, even when the action takes place in the heart of high culture. It’s liberating to think along the lines of ‘anything goes.’ In recent years, I feel there’s been a lot of minimalist theater, and it feels good to have the opportunity to push those boundaries a bit,” says Ebbel.
– In recent years, I feel there’s been a lot of minimalist theater, and it feels good to have the chance to push those boundaries a bit.
Double game
Mozart was born in 1756 and died in 1791, and is considered one of the greatest composers in world history. The story is set in Vienna in the late 18th century. Antonio Salieri feels threatened by the young, self-proclaimed genius who is a charmer of both the people and the women.
Where Mozart is a genius, Salieri is mediocre. Where Mozart is a playboy, Salieri is hardworking and dedicated. It turns into a game of double-crossing in which Salieri befriends Mozart, all the while doing everything in his power to ruin the child prodigy.
“It’s a celebration, of course, but it also has an incredibly powerful history and delves into all the pain and suffering that comes with being human. We all want to be Mozart, but most of us are Salieri,” says Glans.
Fredrik Høstaker (left) and Kyrre Haugen Sydness as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri.
– We all want to be Mozart, but most of us are Salieri.
Inspiration from pop culture
Glans and Ebbel have drawn a great deal of inspiration from the Baroque era for their performance. But also from more modern pop culture.
“Mozart was the rock star of his time, and I think he’d be a rock star today, too. We’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from pop culture in the way we present him, and I think the audience will be able to recognize specific references to pop culture figures they’re already familiar with,” they say, without giving anything else away.
- Learn more and buy tickets for Amadeus
- Watch the video podcast with Glans and Ebbel on YouTube
- Watch a video from the costume rehearsals
Text: Kjetil Nordhus