The Theatre Telephone
Teatertelefonen was an artistic response to the corona telephone, and played from January to April, 2021. An option for anyone who needed more theatre in the middle of a pandemic.
Theatre is a meeting. While this wasn’t physically possible, we resorted to the telephone, one to one. In meeting our telephonic audience, we spontaneously selected a poetic text from our catalogue and performed it live.
Each call/performance lasted 10-20 minutes.
Can theatre and poetry, at best, provide relief, extend horizons and contribute to a good recovery? We believe so.
Many thanks for all the meetings; many thanks for the support, happiness and laughter!
Norsk Shakespeare magazine called The Theatre Telephone a “gift to listening”. Reviewer Hanne Ramsdal writes: ‘The concept is beautiful and tolerates a good deal of improvisation, and I got to hear an extract from a text I’ve been wanting to read for a long time. Not least – and despite all the restrictions in the age of corona – The Theatre Telephone is able to offer something completely unexpected.’
Read the whole review (in Norwegian) here.
Created by and featuring Ann Sam Bell artists:
Nelly Winterhalder – manuscript/director
Nelly is a playwright, director and translator. Her works have been performed in Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Nicaragua.
Birgit Nordby – actor and production
Birgit is an actor who trained at The Arts Educational School in London. She has worked at a number of theatres, such as Teater Ibsen and Riksteatret, as well as with her own productions in Norway and England under the name Nordby produksjoner
Texts included work by Malmfrid Hallum, Toril Solvang, Kristofer Grønskag, Nelly Winterhalder, Sigrid Undset and William Shakespeare (translated by Øyvind Berg) among others.
The Theatre Telephone received support from Fritt Ord, the Municipality of Oslo, the Fund for Performing Artists and many listeners – thank you all!