Kilden pays tribute to Gabriel Scott with a tour in Agder
Kilden pays tribute to Gabriel Scott with a tour in Agder
2024 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Southern Norwegian author Gabriel Scott was born. To this occasion, Kilden on tour with his first dramatic work; the humorous doomsday comedy The Sky Clock. It will be a heartwarming performance celebrating the joy of theater, traveling troupes—and so of course the author of the entire Southern Norway region – Gabriel Scott.
It all starts with the premiere in Høvåg Prayer House, in the coastal villagewhere Gabriel Scott grew up, before the tour continues to Arendal Kulturhus, in the town where Scott spent his final years. Valle, Sirdal, and Byremo are also among the stops on the tour itinerary, before the production returns and concludes its run at Kilden. See the full tour schedule.
Apocalyptic comedy
During his lifetime, Gabriel Scott wrote about 60 books, and although he is not one of the biggest names in Norwegian literary history today, he is the author of books we still read and are familiar with today, such as Kilden and Tante Pose. The formerperforming arts centre the very source of the name forperforming arts centre Kilden performing arts centre , and the latter is a film you may have seen on NRK on Christmas Eve?
*The Sky Clock* was published in 1905 and is Scott’s first play. It is a comedy in three acts, and tells the story of what happens in a small village in Southern Norway when a preacher arrives with the news that Judgment Day is near.
The director on the play's plot:
— Gabriel Scott would have liked this
When the Sky Clock was staged for the first time at the Centraltheater in Oslo, it a huge success with both audiences and critics, but it also received a great deal of negative attention in Christian circles. When the playwas was written it in fact the rise of the Christian lay movement at its most active, something the pastor’s son Scott was not a big fan of. Thus, the theme of his first dramatic work was uneducated laymen and emissaries who traveled around speaking of God and Judgment Day. In a humorous way, he played with those who went around and preached God’s word, and those whogot themselves carried away by it.
— “So, Gabriel Scott’s first dramatic work—on tour, that’s just perfect,” smiles Endre Sannes Hadland. He is usually a dramaturg at Kilden, but is now also directing The Celestial Clock. He goes on to explain why it was important for Kilden be part of celebrating the Gabriel Scott anniversary:
— As an institutional theater, we bear a certain cultural and historical responsibility, and one aspect of that is commemorating anniversaries. So it was natural for us, as the regional theater of Southern Norway, to honor Gabriel Scott, the author of Southern Norway.
He thinks Scott would have liked Kilden's version of that funny play.
— Gabriel Scott is skilled at seeing people—the depth of people—both in seriousness and in humor. Not taking ourselves too seriously. And giving people a warm feeling. He was very good at that, and we hope to achieve that in this production as well.
— Celebrating traveling theater
In Kilden’s production, the director aims not only to pay tribute to the author from Høvåg and the culture of Southern Norway, but also to the joy of theater and the touring troupe.
— “Since we’re going on tour, I wanted to pay tribute to traveling theater troupes. There isn’t much about them in the history books, but they’ve always been around, spreading the joy of theater and bringing theater to the people,” Endre explains.
When the actors from Kilden go on tour, they essentially form a traveling theater troupe, and that also shapes the entire production, from costumes to set design and props.
Everything you see on stage should feel authentic. It will be a warm production with an aesthetic that’s a bit of a mixed bag—a little old and rickety.
— The idea is that the performers have created everything themselves, so the point isn’t for everything to be super polished, Endre explains, highlighting the set design the workshop has built as something extra special;
— It’s worth the price of admission all on its own. Yes, to me, that’s theater.
— So, Gabriel Scott’s first play—on tour, that’s just perfect
As I write this, preparations are underway for the first rehearsal week at Kilden, and Endre is clear about what he’s most looking forward to:
— I’m most looking forward to hearing the actors read the script together for the first time. I think it will be a room full of creativity and inventive ideas that can create a fun show with waffles, hymns, and twists and turns.
Rune Belsvik joins the team
Author Rune Belsvik has contributed to Kilden productions on several occasions in recent years, including as the playwright behind the 2021 hit Heimanifrå – på høge hæle i Junaiten. This time, he is responsible for adapting Gabriel Scott’s nearly 120-year-old text.
— I try to immerse myself in the text and be Gabriel Scott’s man, not messing too much with his words, but putting things together a bit more, the author explains.
Are you trying to imagine what Gabriel Scott was thinking when he wrote the lyrics, or are you incorporating a bit of Rune Belsvik as well?
— “Well, I can’t know what Gabriel Scott had in mind, and I can’t help but be Rune Belsvik,” he laughs, and goes on to explain that much of the work has involved scaling down the large play to seven roles.
— For example, when the shoemaker comes to Salve with his shoes, I thought, “Do we really need this shoemaker here, or can we make the general store owner a shoemaker too?” So then I got rid of a shoemaker, smiles Belsvik, adding:
— All of these roles are, of course, different facets of human nature, and I feel that the roles we’ve kept have taken on a few more dimensions and become a bit more dramatic.
You’re probably one of the people who’s delved deepest into the text—what’s it been like to explore it?
— I think the play is a really good idea. But I haven’t looked into it any deeper than reading the book, you know. You can’t get any deeper than that, says Belsvik with a twinkle in his eye.
— “But it’s been a lot of fun working on this. It’s a little universe where things get thrown into disarray, and then everything starts to unravel—and in there, I feel a little at home,” the author laughs.