WILLSTEDT, THERESE

Noget skal ske. Det kan føles langsomt, men i virkeligheden går alting meget, meget hurtigt. Måske venter vi på en retning? I øjeblikket er vi i tvivl om, hvorvidt vi er i stand til at træffe en beslutning – eller om ansvaret ligger hos andre. Derfor venter vi.
Hvis du fik en gave, ville du så gøre alt for at ødelægge den?
Af jord er vi kommet – men hvad skal vi blive til?
Forestillingens tekst blev skabt gennem interviews og dokumentation af selve prosessen med at udvikle en forestilling om klimakrisen, i samarbeid med unge skuespillerelever på en teaterhøjskole.

OF EARTH WE CAME
Something needs to happen. It may feel slow, but in truth, everything is moving very, very fast. Perhaps we’re waiting for direction? At this point, we’re unsure whether we are capable of making a decision—or if the responsibility lies with someone else. So we wait.
If you were given a gift, would you do everything you could to destroy it?
Of earth we came – but what are we to become?
The script was developed through interviews and by documenting the creative process of making a performance about the climate crisis, in collaboration with young acting students at a theatre folk high school.

Forestillingen leger på flere niveauer med modsætningen mellem det iscenesatte og det autentiske.
Når Doppler jager elge, jager han en oprindelig væren – en eksistens, der bare er. Han ønsker at flygte fra et livsprojekt baseret på kompetence og succes, og i stedet finde frem til en mere ærlig tilværelse: “Det er ligegyldigt, hvad du siger, bare det er ærligt.” Men hans eksistentielle eksperiment spænder ben for sig selv, og han ender i en skov af nye selviscenesættelser: han klæder sig ud som indianer, Hawaii-hippie og superhelt, og han træder velvilligt ind i rollen som mentor, fx når han giver publikum “syv tips til at slå noget ihjel.”
Sidekick-figuren Bosse afslører undervejs, hvordan Dopplers projekt på et splitsekund kan omsættes til en vare i livsstilsmarkedet: for kernesunde familier, palæo-kokke og selvforsynende tv-bønder. I forestillingens ramme spiller instruktør Therese Willstedt desuden på spændingen mellem teater og virkelighed, idet sceneteknikere og skuespillere bevæger sig frit på scenen og i salen, og kommunikerer direkte både med hinanden og publikum – så man flere steder ærligt tvivler på, om der improviseres eller følges manuskript.
Publikums komfortzone udfordres yderligere gennem en bytteøkonomisk øvelse, hvor man skal finde noget i tasken og bytte med sidemanden.
Selv om Erlend Loes roman er præget af humor og mandlig selverkendelse, er det befriende, at Willstedt i sin iscenesættelse giver karakteren Frida – spillet af Marie Dalsgaard – en stærk og kompleks stemme. Hun er sød, skarp, stærk og sårbar på samme tid og giver Doppler det modspil, han mangler i romanen.
Vi griner først af den ene, så af den anden – og forstår dem begge. Der er noget dybt menneskeligt i Dopplers ord om at "vove sig ud på den rådne gren, man sidder på", og samtidig heppede mange på Frida, da hun kaldte det patetisk at forlade sin kone og tre børn for at “lege vildmand.”
Spændingen mellem deres positioner forløses aldrig, og vi tager dilemmaet med os hjem – især da Doppler til sidst forsvinder ud i virkelighedens mørke bag scenevæggen, som åbner sig. Tilbage står Bosse og forsøger at sælge os Doppler-merchandise.
Rammefiktionen – at publikum overværer et inspirationsforedrag om Dopplers liv – muliggør hurtige sceneskift, hvor vi det ene øjeblik befinder os dybt inde i skoven, og det næste i en konfrontation mellem Frida og Doppler.

English (translation):
(New adaptation, freely based on Erlend Loe – premiered at The Royal Danish Theatre, 2013)
For three performers
No translation exists – the work is only available in Danish.

About the performance:
The production plays on multiple levels with the contrast between the staged and the authentic.
When Doppler hunts elk, he is in search of a more primal way of being—an existence that simply is. He wants to escape a life centered on competence and success, and instead move toward a more honest existence: “It doesn’t matter what you say, as long as it’s honest.” But Doppler’s existential experiment quickly turns into yet another project of self-staging: he dresses up as a Native American, a Hawaiian hippie, and a superhero, and willingly takes on the role of mentor—offering us, for example, “seven tips on how to kill something.”
The character Bosse, who acts as a sidekick throughout, reveals how easily Doppler’s project can be commodified—marketed to health-conscious families, paleo cooks, and self-sufficient lifestyle influencers. Director Therese Willstedt also plays with the boundary between performance and reality, letting stage technicians and actors move freely around the stage and audience, communicating openly with one another and with the public—leaving us to wonder: are they improvising, or is this all scripted?
The audience’s comfort zone is further challenged with a barter exercise, where everyone is asked to search their bags and trade something with the person next to them.
While Erlend Loe’s novel explores male identity and existential crises with humor and self-awareness, Willstedt’s staging offers a refreshing balance. Through the character Frida—portrayed by Marie Dalsgaard—she brings in a nuanced, strong, and emotionally complex counterpart to Doppler, someone who calls out his contradictions. She’s sweet, sharp, strong, and fragile, and gives Doppler the resistance he lacks in the novel.
We laugh first at one, then the other—and somehow understand them both. There’s truth in Doppler’s urge to “venture out onto the rotten branch you're sitting on,” just as there’s truth in Frida calling it pathetic to leave your wife and children to “play wild man.”
The tension between their viewpoints is never resolved. In the end, Doppler disappears—literally—through a stage wall that opens up to the outside world. We are left with Bosse, trying to sell us Doppler-themed merchandise.
The performance is framed as a motivational lecture about Doppler’s life, allowing for rapid shifts between scenes—one moment deep in the forest, the next in a confrontation between Frida and Doppler.

Et dokumentarisk værk for syv skuespillere/dansere/musikere
Der findes ikke en oversættelse – værket eksisterer kun på dansk.

Om forestillingen Døden:
Instruktør Therese Willstedt interviewede syv mennesker, som i virkeligheden stod ansigt til ansigt med døden. Disse interviews dannede grundlaget for forestillingens tekst. Hvordan ser man på livet, når det nærmer sig sin afslutning? Hvilke tanker gør man sig? Hvilken tilstand befinder man sig i?
De syv medvirkende har én ting til fælles: Deres liv nærmer sig sin ende, og de ønsker at afslutte det på samme måde, som de har levet det – enestående og unikt. Alle har de overladt deres virkelige historie til instruktør Therese Willstedt og Det Røde Rum, som i denne opsætning samarbejder med dansere fra Corpus, Den Kongelige Ballets eksperimenterende kompagni.
Sammen med ensemblet iscenesætter og koreograferer Therese Willstedt de syv menneskers kamp for at se afskeden i øjnene og gøre livet færdigt.


ENGLISH: A documentary stage piece for seven performers – actors, dancers, and musicians
No translation of the script exists – the work is only available in Danish.

About the performance Death:
Director Therese Willstedt interviewed seven individuals who, in real life, had come face to face with death. These interviews became the foundation for the performance text. How does one view life when it is approaching its end? What thoughts arise? What kind of state of mind do people find themselves in?
These seven individuals share one thing: their lives are nearing the end, and they wish to conclude their journey as they have lived it – uniquely and extraordinarily. Each of them entrusted their personal stories to director Therese Willstedt and Det Røde Rum, which in this production collaborated with dancers from Corpus, the Royal Danish Ballet's experimental company.
Together with the ensemble, Willstedt directed and choreographed a portrayal of their struggle to face farewell and bring life to a meaningful close.

EN FOLKEFIENDE (ny dramatisering, fritt efter Ibsen, som uppfördes på Olso Nye 2023)

Ett dokumentärt scenkonstverk om längtan efter tillhörighet och sammanhang.
Vi lever i en allt mer globaliserad värld och rör oss mer än någonsin tidigare. Vi pendlar mellan städer, reser, flyttar och flyr. Så vad betyder det att tillhöra idag – och vad är det som står i vägen för att vi ska känna tillhörighet? Vad händer när vi lämnar något välbekant och kliver in i det okända? Och hur kan vi få det okända att kännas som hemma?
Genom möten och intervjuer med över 100 personer – bland andra papperslösa, mäklare, migranter, äldre på äldreboenden, motståndare till böneutrop, IKEA-anställda, barn och unga – söker Therese Willstedt i Hemma efter ett svar på vad som händer när människors längtan efter ett hem möter samhällets föreställningar om vad ett hem ska vara.

HOME
A documentary performance for five actors
No translation exists – the work is only available in Swedish.
About the performance:
A documentary stage work about the longing for belonging and connection.
We live in an increasingly globalized world and are more mobile than ever before. We commute between cities, travel, relocate, and flee. So what does it mean to belong today – and what stands in the way of that sense of belonging? What happens when we leave something familiar and enter the unknown? And how can we turn the unknown into a place we call home?
Through encounters and interviews with over 100 individuals – including undocumented migrants, real estate agents, immigrants, elderly residents in care homes, opponents of prayer calls, IKEA employees, children and young people – Home is Therese Willstedt’s exploration of what happens when people’s deep yearning for home meets the societal expectations of what a home should be.