‘- Intenst vakkert og fortvilende vondt
I Am the Wind – by Jon Fosse
Text: Anne Reitan
Photo: Lars Gunnar Liestøl
For the first time, Kilden is staging a play by Jon Fosse: *I Am the Wind*, one of his most existentialist works.
It’s about two men talking about life, but they have slightly different ways of seeing the world. It is both concrete, simple, and intimate, yet also abstract, ethereal, and existential.
This is how actor Henrik Rafaelsen described the plot of the play when he was interviewed during Kilden’s 2023 theater season launch. Henrik and Morten Espeland play the two characters,“The One” and “The Other.”
– It’s about living, and trying to live. The two characters discuss both big and small issues, but language isn’t quite enough. They try to express themselves, but don’t always succeed. The will is there, but so is the understanding that one will fail, explains Espeland. For him, *I Am the Wind* is a very special play;
– It is intensely beautiful, agonizingly painful, and a very, very fine play. It may be my favorite play of all in the world of drama.
“Do you enjoy being out on the water so much
because you want everything to be quiet?”
Excerpt from *I Am the Wind*
Renowned director
The director of the production is Tyra Tønnessen from Kristiansand. The last time she staged a production with Kilden , she won the Hedda Award for Best Director. That was also the first time she collaborated with set and costume designer Leiko Fuseya. The two are now regular collaborators and will also be working together on the production *Eg er vinden*. Thiswill be the first time they have staged a play by Jon Fosse.
In early December, Tyra, Leiko, and the actors gave a presentation on the project, and Tyra kicked things off in true *Eg er vinden* style;
– We’re working on a play about how words fall short, so it’s hard to figure out which words to use to describe this project, which is precisely about how hard it is to find the right words.
She goes on to explain that she was skeptical for a long time about doing this particular play.
– I have to admit that I’ve been a bit critical of Jon Fosse; I’ve read a lot of his work and find it a bit heavy going. Still, I have to admit that almost every time I go to see a Jon Fosse play, I find the experience absolutely wonderful!
As a director, she’s used to calling most of the shots, but this time she’s taken a slightly different approach;
– This time I’ve really taken a back seat; I’m just going to go with the flow and see what happens when the actors tackle this script.
"It's nice here
isn’t it
— the gray rocks
and the rocks over there
and then out there in the distance
there’s the sea”
Excerpt from *I Am the Wind*
Tønnessen isn’t the only one staging a Jon Fosse play for the first time; in fact, this has never been done before at Kilden . *Eg er vinden*wasreleased in 2008 and is one of Fosse’s most existentialist plays.
“There are two men in a boat talking about life. It’s that simple with Jon Fosse, yet so incredibly complex,” explains Valborg Frøysnes, artistic director of Kilden.
Connect and engage
What do the actors hope the audience will take away from seeing *I Am the Wind*?
“What I hope is that people will come into the theater and experience, feel, and sense something,”explainsEspeland. Rafaelsen adds;
– There’s a certain atmosphere there, too. You see and hear things differently than you do in everyday life. It’s a slightly more focused and distilled way of talking about life. You get more to the heart of things. So if we manage to convey that, that’s good. And then we hope that the audience can relate to and engage with the material, just as we do, and that they have some thoughts and questions when they leave the theater. After all, that’s our job.
One of the world's most frequently performed contemporary playwrights
Jon Fosse was born in Haugesund in 1959 and grew up on a small farm in Strandebarm, a small village on the Hardangerfjord. Today, he is one of the most frequently performed contemporary playwrights in the world.
Fosse began his career as a novelist and was long skeptical about writing for the theater. But after repeated encouragement from dramaturg Kai Johnsen and a need to earn a living, he made his debut at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen in 1994 with the play *Og aldri skal vi skiljast*.
Within a short time, he wrote a number of plays that were staged at various theaters in Norway, and eventually also abroad, particularly in France and Germany. Fosse currently lives in the state’s honorary residence, Grotten, in Oslo, and has long been a leading contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
"I Am the Wind" premieres at Grimstad Kulturhus on January 28. It will then be performed in Arendal, Mandal, Lyngdal, Birkenes, and Vennesla, before coming to Kilden February 16, where it will run for one month.