Melancholia II and I
By Jon Fosse
Stage adaptation by Oda Radoor – a production by Ymist
The mystery surrounding the illness and creative power of landscape painter Lars Hertervig (1830–1902) lies at the heart of Jon Fosse’s two Melancholia novels—and in Ymist’s comprehensive production Melancholia II and I.
The production explores the dissolution of the mind, the shifts between hope and despair, the power of love and existential loneliness. It explores the loss of control over the body and the path toward death. The novel’s text is lifted from the page and into the stage space, where it flows through the actors’ bodies.
Fosse’s evocative and at times impenetrable language takes on a theatrical form in a large, holistic work of art, where the speaking and choreographed body stands side by side with music, set design, and lighting design.
Lars Hertervig tried to capture the light in his photographs. He himself believed that the constant gazing at landscapes in sunlight—and the lack of good colors—was the reason he became psychotic.
“I will paint your image away,” he repeated. In this sentence lies both a destructive and a life-giving impulse—a darkness and a light. It is within this tension that the narrative navigates.
Ymist reverses Fosse’s chronology:
First, we encounter Lars through the memories of his sister Oline. Then through the author Vidme, who has decided to begin a novel about Lars Hertervig. Finally, the audience is thrown into Lars’s own grinding thoughts and accelerating psychosis.
Cast
Melancholia I
Erlend Samnøen – direction and choreography
Morten Espeland – performer
Huy Le Vo – performer
Ine Marie Wilmann – performer
Oda Radoor – adaptation and dramaturgy
Ingeborg Staxrud Olerud – lighting design
Nils Jakob Langvik – composer
Kjersti Alm Eriksen – set and costume design
Daria Zarbeeva – technician
Billie Barker – producer
Melancholia I is supported by the Norwegian Cultural Council, the Fund for Performing Artists, and Fritt Ord.
Melancholia II
Morten Espeland – performer
Gaute Storsve – composer
Maja Nilsen – set and costume design
Oda Radoor – adaptation and dramaturgy
Ingeborg Staxrud Olerud – lighting design
Erlend Samnøen – direction and choreography
Melancholia II is supported by the Norwegian Cultural Council, the Fund for Sound and Image, Tou Scene, the Fund for Performing Artists, the Bergesen Foundation, Fritt Ord, the City of Oslo, and Hordaland County.
About Ymist
Ymist is a Norwegian performing arts company founded in 2014 by actor Morten Espeland and choreographer and director Erlend Samnøen. The company works at the intersection of theater, dance, and performance, and is particularly known for a stage aesthetic where choreographed movement is just as important as the spoken text.
Ymist often takes its starting point in literary texts not originally written for the stage, including works by Jon Fosse, Tarjei Vesaas, and Thomas Mann. The goal is to give literature a body and explore the text’s materiality through the actor’s body, voice, and physicality. The company has made its mark on stages such as Black Box Theater, Tou Scene, and Cornerteateret, and has received critical acclaim for its work.
