Robert Wilson and Norway

Robert Wilson and Norway

Steve Earnest

Figure 1

Robert Wilson’s Edda, featuring images of Texas

Robert Wilson emerged as an important figure in European theatre in the 1970s, following his production of Deafman Glance in Paris that prompted Louis Aragon’s famous “Open Letter to André Breton” regarding Wilson’s realization of the style of Surrealism. As additional works with German playwright Heiner Müller also followed, theatre companies from Northern Europe and Scandinavia immediately showed interest, and commissions from major state theatre companies began to appear. The 1998 production of Strindberg’s Ett Drömspiel (A Dream Play) in Stockholm’s Stadsteatern, Sweden, was Wilson’s first work in Scandinavia. It also marked his first music/sound collaboration with Michael Gottlieb. As the Wilsonian aesthetic was already in a highly developed phase, the Swedish audiences and press were particularly enthralled by Wilson’s combination of the visual picture with a well-developed soundscape. Wilson’s realization of Strindberg’s visual work was lauded in Sweden as a groundbreaking effort—described as “Weirdly hypnotic; a series of painterly tableau evoking artists as different as Magritte and Andrew Wyeth.”[1] Several productions were commissioned in Denmark during the early 2000s, including Woyzeck and The Black Rider (originally commissioned by Thalia Theater Hamburg in 1990) both of which played at the Betty Nansen Teatret in Copenhagen in 2000. In 2002 a special production entitled White Town was commissioned by the Bellevue Teatret for the recognition of the life and career of Danish theatre artist Arne Jacobsen.

The first production of a Wilson work to appear in Norway was the 2005 production of Peer Gynt, commissioned by Det Norske Teatret in Oslo. Originally planned for a world tour, the production transferred to co-producer Det Neue Scene in Bergen before touring to the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Three other productions by Robert Wilson have played in Norway: Edda Edda, produced by Det Norske Teatret in March 2017; Shakespeare’s Sonnets, produced by the Berliner Ensemble, later in May of that same year at the Bergen Theater Festival; and The Sandman, produced by Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus in 2019 at the Bergen Theater Festival. Since 2020 Wilson’s productions have been featured on occasion in major Scandinavian theatre companies. This essay will focus on productions in Norway and will explore Wilson’s aesthetic and its relationship to Norwegian society as well as to certain aspects of Norway’s social and cultural nature.

The legacy of Ibsen and the tradition of both realistic and nonrealistic versions of his plays in Norway are well documented. Peer Gynt is the most often produced work by Ibsen, or anyone else, in Norway. The long history of production of the work includes ballets, operas, plays, children’s productions, films, and undoubtedly other types of performances not mentioned. As is noted in the extensive paper “Robert Wilson’s Staging of Peer Gynt and the Norwegian Tradition,” by Keld Hyldig, the work has maintained three basic characteristics throughout its long production history: 1) “an extensive use of spectacular Norwegian sceneries,” 2) lyrical, mood-creating music, and 3) recognizable and thus “natural” representations of Norwegian characters.[2] Throughout its lengthy history Peer Gynt gained the reputation as being representative of the Norwegian way of life and grew to represent “all things Norwegian” as it explores, in epic fashion, over fifty years of action that the epic work chronicles. As it predated strictly realistic staging, Peer Gynt was never bound to a particular approach nor was it relegated to a lower status as one of Ibsen’s “early plays.”  The play’s exploration of Norwegian culture and society as well certain elements from the working class naturally led it to numerous Brecht-inspired productions in the 1970s, but most experts point to Ingmar Bergman’s staging in 1957 at Malmö City Theatre as being the via negativa of a new psycho-surreal approach whereby much of the play’s action occurred in Peer’s subconscious.

Bergman’s approach realized the play as “an internal struggle where Peer seeks to find his own humanity”[3] and paved the way for numerous highly visual yet uniquely Norwegian productions that emphasized the music and folklore of Norway in the nineteenth century in addition to exploring various theatrical means as storytelling devices. Wilson’s later visionary staging certainly landed as a necessary sector in the trajectory of the work’s evolution.

Wilson’s Peer Gynt began rehearsals in March 2003 at the Watermill Center on Long Island, New York. The Watermill workshop yielded an extensive set of drawings or a “Project Book” for Peer Gynt as well as a staged collection of physical images developed by participants in the Watermill Summer Program and set to music by composer Michael Galasso. Practical work began later that same year at Det Norske Teatret in Olso. Apparently, Wilson had conceived the work in typically massive scale and the initial drawings and other speculations had yielded a potential running time of eight hours or more.[4] As is the norm with commissioned productions of this nature, the extended rehearsal period was one year.

Stage A, or table work, consisted of a few weeks and finished with a bauprobe (rough staging rehearsal) of several days. During the rehearsal time of Stages A and B, Von Arx developed scenography and discussed with Wilson and the other members of the production team numerous individuals like actors, dramaturgs and those involved in the process. From that table work a skeleton structure known as the “silent play” emerged and elements such as architecture, light, and other visual elements were contemplated and considered. Actors from both Det Norske Teatret in Oslo as well as Det Nationale Scene in Bergen were selected to supplement the skeleton cast, and the full cast was finalized some six months prior to the opening. The final stage, which lasted only around one month, consisted of the addition of the text to the work. For Peer Gynt, Det Norske Teatret had contracted Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse to create a new text for the work that was a greater reflection of Norway’s “new language” that emerged following Norway’s independence and breakaway from bokmål or the previous everyday Norwegian language that was highly influenced by the Danish language.[5]

 In its original form, Peer Gynt includes some forty scenes and locations all over the globe and includes both the conscious and subconscious worlds. Typical of most of Ibsen’s works Peer Gynt was written in old Norwegian, and Fosse’s goal was to write the text in a “new Norwegian,” a language that included dialects from four prominent regions of Norway.[6] Fosse noted “the original was written in an old-fashioned Norwegian, that in reality was Danish. It was quite a job to adapt the work, but it made the play fresher, and in my opinion made Ibsen’s greatness as a writer more visible”[7] The playwright also noted “Bob Wilson has a great ear for the music of language, so the actors delivered their lines in an almost perfect way. It was impressive.”[8] Critics, even those known for more traditional tastes noted that both Wilson and Fosse had preserved the text and the play’s overall meaning and impact with a strong measure of success. In discussing his collaboration with Wilson, Fosse noted that they never really did actually “collaborate.”  Fosse noted “I delivered a text, and he [Wilson] cut it.”  But Fosse stated that he deeply admired Wilson’s talent for understanding a language that he didn’t understand in “a normal way.” Most of the textual adaptation was done by dramaturg Monica Ohlsson, who had worked with Wilson previously in Sweden and Denmark. Fosse was impressed with Wilson’s ability to successfully substitute a deeply meaningful theatrical language for the written text. Additionally, it was noted that Wilson had emphasized the spoken elongation of vowels throughout the work, which added to both the musicality as well as the “strange beauty” of his staging.[9]

Figure 2

Gertrude Jynge and Robert Wilson during Peer Gynt rehearsals

After the success of Peer Gynt, Det Norske Teatret had the desire to present another work directed by Wilson with text by Fosse. For this work, Fosse was tasked with providing a version of the Eddic Poems, Icelandic manuscripts from the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Wide ranging in their subject matter, the Eddic poems are essentially pre-Christian literary works that deal with Norse gods and medieval legends from the Nordic countries, handling many crucial events such as the beginning of time and the naming of the gods. Fosse noted that he wrote the work, trying at the same to be “loyal to the originals but also making into a coherent play”[10] Edda had its world premiere in Oslo at Det Norske Teatret in March 2017. Music was provided by Arvo Pärt along with the duo Coco Rosie, costumes were designed by Jacques Reynaurd, and scenic and painterly elements designed by Swiss designer Serge von Arx.

As is the case with all things Robert Wilson, all roads typically lead to Ann-Christin Rommen. Having worked as Wilson’s co-director for over three decades, Ms. Rommen has been a key figure in all performance and conceptual elements of Wilson’s performances since their initial collaboration in 1983 with The CIVIL warS. She noted that Wilson likes to consider works that are very close and important to particular societies and cultures. He then likes to examine them in different ways, to find humor in the works, to “unseat the works from their high place” and look at them in a more playful, yet introspective way.  In considering Wilson’s work on Edda, Rommen noted:

Bob has always been drawn to universal myths. For example, I La Galigo the creation myth of the people of Sulawesi, Wagner’s Ring Cycle and the story of Die Nibelungen, Homer’s The Odyssey, Goethe’s Faust, and, of course, Ibsen’s Peer Gynt. These works all include the themes of good versus evil, incest, weird creatures like trolls and the cyclops, and they all tell stories that are relevant for all mankind.[11]

Figure 3

Henrik Rafaelsen as Odin and Gjertrud Jynge as Volva in Edda

Certain elements of the Nordic myths were appealing to Wilson. A study of the scene breakdown with Rommen and Carl Morten Amundsen, dramaturg of Det Norske Teatret and a member of the Edda dramaturgical team, revealed several scenes when many of the Norse gods would come together for meetings and would need to remind Ovid, the “All Father and God of war and death” about some occurrence or event that he had forgotten. Wilson viewed Odin’s age-related conditions as being like those of humans who become more childlike and sillier as they grow older. A number of comic nonsense dances were given to Odin, and there was also a scene in which Odin tested death by hanging upside down and playing electric guitar. In early table work, Wilson had planned to realize the original Norse legend of Odin “hanging upside down” but added the action of his singing a rock song while playing an electric guitar. As the legend goes, Odin remained in that hanging position for nine days in order to do some inner soul searching.[12] Another important scene involved Odin’s son Tor and his meeting with Volva and the accidental severing of the Midgaardsorm, Volva’s companion and the snake who holds the world together. To connect these major events, Wilson created a number of “knee plays” as was the case with the CIVIL warS. These short works linked together the various stories and allowed for important scenic transitions to happen during the scenes. For Wilson, it was very important that they happened “in the clouds,” behind a transparent cyclorama that was backed by an aluminum metal wall—defining the place as the infinite clouds of time. This allowed the work to transcend the ordinary world and present the story of the world’s creation. Pioneered by von Arx and Wilson, the combination of the semi-transparent cyclorama backed by the steel wall had become a unique facet of Wilson’s stage aesthetic since his early work in Norway and remains as one of the unique elements developed during his work there.

Figure 4

Ann-Christin Rommen with Robert Wilson

Two additional works have appeared in Norway as of August 2024—Shakespeare’s Sonnets in May 2017 and The Sandman in 2019. Both works appeared as part of the Bergen Theatre Festival at the performance space Grieghallen, Norway’s largest combined cultural and congress venue. Shakespeare’s Sonnets toured to Bergen from Berliner Ensemble while The Sandman toured from Dusseldorf Schauspielhaus in what was billed as one of the festival’s most adventurous works and played for only two performances on June 1 and 2, 2019. The Sandman was Wilson’s first collaboration with British pop star and rock composer Anna Calvi, notorious for the often sinister, undergirding soundtracks of shows like Peaky Blinders and other dark film projects. The work was received as a “grusical,” a ghastly expressionist cabaret driven by the haunting dreamlike presence of the title character who steals the children’s eyeballs and feeds them to the monsters upstairs.The Norwegian theatre public and critics have apparently even fashioned the term uhygge, or uhyggelia (uncanny or weird) for this type of work. Considering the recent productions of theatre practitioners such as Vegard Vinge in Bergen, The Sandman was likely only darkly grim or weird to a relatively small portion of those who attended.

Figure 5

Cast of EDDA, scenography by Robert Wilson and Serge von Arx

Another aspect of Robert Wilson’s work in Norway is his association with the Norwegian Theatre Academy in Fredrikstad, about one hour from Oslo. Wilson has had a long-time association with Serge von Arx, a professor of scenography and practicing architect. Von Arx and Wilson began collaborating as early as 1989 on various stage, exhibition, and design projects all over the world, including the Berliner Ensemble, Teatro Alla Scala, Teatro Real, and many others as noted on von Arx’s website. Wilson and von Arx have long experimented with “performing architecture,” in which the elements of performance and architecture become permanently intertwined in performance. The idea is reminiscent of Russian artist and theorist Vslevold Meyerhold and several others who utilized constructivism and similar performance practices that involved the melding of humans and scenic elements in performance.

In Wilson and von Arx’s work together, they have found it important to utilize specific materials unique to each work that are intrinsic to the world(s) of the play. For example, in Edda, von Arx notes that “The set is a partner in dialogue with everything else happening on stage.”[13] Wilson’s work has a long tradition of including visual quotes and references to pre-existing images and structures. In Edda one image was that of the Brion Tomb by Italian architect Carlo Scarpa. Von Arx noted that recognizable visual structures assist in communicating ideas; “if you have something that people know or they can recognize, it’s much easier to pull them into the performance”[14] (Picchi). Another Scandinavian or Norwegian element noted by von Arx was the use of “traditional building methods and materials such as native woods, paint textures and the superior craftsmanship that Norway is known for.”  Scenic elements were developed in the same manner as all other elements of performance and were discussed on a daily basis. This would allow for changes in accordance with the evolution of the staging process and/or any additions to or subtractions from the text. Many world theatre companies are not able to manage the many changes that are inherent in a work by Wilson. The finished product would only be achieved after the work was fully rehearsed and all desired changes and stage artifacts were implemented to one hundred percent satisfaction.

Figure 6

Cast of Edda, scenography by Robert Wilson and Serge von Arx

Wilson’s works are well known for having many anachronistic and very personal references both within the spoken text as well as notable visual references. In Edda, there was a scene during which the character Tor had to make a quick getaway after making advances on Freya, who refuses to marry him because he is a troll. Tor makes his exit as a cowboy hat and a single cowboy boot appear in the sky—one of Wilson’s playful references to his home state of Texas,. It was noted by Rommen that “Bob’s life and work have always referenced Texas. For many of the first years that I knew him, he would only wear his signature cowboy boots.”[15]  Rommen also noted that in many cases she could sense the majesty of the Texas sky in his landscape and lighting designs. In particular, the hues and textures of the Texas sunset had been etched in Wilson’s memory and thus became prevalent in his designs. This element was prevalent in Edda as the tints and hues of the landscapes were much more reminiscent of Texas than Norway or anywhere in Scandinavia. Edda also toured to Reykjavik City Theatre in Iceland and to the Aarhus Theater in Denmark. Edda was awarded the Norwegian Hedda Prize as the theatrical event of 2017, just as Peer Gynt had done in 2005.

Figure 7

Wilson’s Moby Dick at Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Fall 2024

Unfortunately, a potential collaboration on Moby Dick with Det Norske Teatret did not materialize. The long-planned staging of Melville’s masterpiece, however, moved forward with a fall 2024 production at Dusseldorf Schauspielhaus. At the time of Wilson’s passing in July 2025, there were no known planned collaborations for Wilson in Norway or any other Scandinavian and Nordic countries.