A FESTIVAL OF NEW NORDIC PLAYS
Nordic Spirit 2012 – October 5-7
For more information visit AKVAVIT THEATRE.
This festival of staged readings introduces 5 new Nordic plays—one each by leading playwrights from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark (all in English translation). We are excited to introduce to Chicago theatre audiences our collection of new translations, North American premiers and even a children’s play! Theater professionals will also find Nordic Spirit an excellent source of scripts and talent they might not otherwise see. Post‐show discussions will follow each reading.
The readings will be held at North Park University’s Lecture Hall Auditorium, 3225 W. Foster Ave., and at nearby Tre Kroner Restaurant, 3258 W. Foster Ave., both in the heart Chicago’s Swedish-American community.
Admission to each reading is a $5 suggested donation, or a $20 suggested donation gets a Festival Pass to all 5 readings. Children & students free. Email info@akvavittheatre.org for reservations and information.
SCHEDULE:
Akvavit Theatre presents
NORDIC SPIRIT 2012
A festival of staged readings
Friday, October 5, 8 pm.
North Park University, Lecture Hall Auditorium, 3225 W. Foster Ave.
They Died With Their Boots On by Sofia Fredén (Sweden); Translated by Edward Buffalo Bromberg
This bitterly funny tale of a couple’s camping getaway explores the intellectual and emotional disconnects between a couple during a night of drinking and a morning of regrets, highlighted against a greater cultural disconnect between the Swedish people and the country’s disillusioned immigrant workers.
Directed by Paul S. Holmquist
Saturday, October 6, 4 pm.
Tre Kroner Restaurant, 3258 W. Foster Ave.
Blue Planet* by Andri Snær Magnason (Iceland); Translated by Julian Meldon D’Arcy and Andri Snaer Magnason
When a mysterious stranger arrives on the children’s Blue Planet with magical powers and big promises, the children begin to think he’s the key to making all their wildest dreams come true. However, BRIMIR and HULDA soon discover that all their newfound fun and games come at an incredible cost. Will they be able to convince the other children of the truth—before it’s too late?
Directed by James D Palmer
*Blue Planet is intended for family audiences and kids of all ages are invited to attend!
Saturday, October 6, 8 pm.
North Park University, Lecture Hall Auditorium, 3225 W. Foster Ave.
A Summer’s Day** by Jon Fosse (Norway); Translated by Kyle Korynta
This new translation introduces acclaimed Norwegian writer Jon Fosse, widely considered to be one of the world’s greatest living playwrights, to Chicago audiences with this deep meditation on the nature of loss. A visit to an old friend sparks the memory of a visit years earlier and the mysterious disappearance of a loved one. Set in two time periods in the same idyllic house, A Summer Day evokes the nostalgia of the end of an affair, capturing love both in the moment and as a distant memory.
Directed by Wm. Bullion
**Akvavit Theatre is proud to be presenting this world-premiere translation by Kyle Korynta, commissioned by Akvavit specially for this festival. Mr. Korynta will also be joining us at the festival to lead the post-show discussion.
Nordic Spirit 2012 Reception Gala to follow across the street at Tre Kroner Restaurant.
Sunday, October 7, 4 pm.
Tre Kroner Restaurant, 3258 W. Foster Ave.
Knives Cut the Air by Jussi Moila (Finland)
Knives Cut the Air a Nordic black tragicomedy set in contemporary Finland. In this dark land the members of an unfortunate Eastern Finnish family have all found their individual ways of being unhappy. William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury was the germ of inspiration for this play, which poetically combines private heartache with classical tragedy.
Directed by Mark Litwicki and Matthew Isler
Sunday, October 7, 8 pm.
North Park University, Lecture Hall Auditorium, 3225 W. Foster Ave.
About Tommy by Thor Bjørn Krebs (Denmark)
This haunting and poetic documentary-style play by the author of the recent cross-European hit “Baroness” explores the motivations and struggles of a young soldier going to fight in a war in a foreign land. He soon finds the experience to be nothing like he expected, and he – and everyone around him – must struggle to cope with the consequences. Based on a series of actual events that took place in the former Yugoslavia.
Directed by Lavina Jadhwani