[Performer, collective devising]
A production of Oblivia with TECHNE project at Theater Rampe and Künstlerhaus Stuttgart in Germany, 2017.
Working Group
Devising | Working group
Performers | Mikko Bredenberg, Alice Ferl, Timo Fredriksson, Anna–Maija Terävä and Annika Tudeer.
Light design | Meri Ekola
Sound design | Alice Ferl
Costumes design | Tua Helve
Augmented reality | Arilyn Photos: Daniela Wolf
Production |Oblivia/ Marina Andersson-Rahikka, Jenny Nordlund
Co-production by the TECHNE project at Theater Rampe and Künstlerhaus Stuttgart in Germany;
supported by AVEK – The Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture & TINFO Theatre Info Finland
Nature Theatre of Oblivia is a stage work and augmented reality experience by Oblivia. The performance works with the impressions, experiences and desires that nature offers us, as a concept and as a place to be, and something to become – like a forest in all its familiarity and uncanniness.
The project explores our relation to nature in a technologically charged world. Nature Theatre of Oblivia uses performance, and augmented realities – AR, Arilyn technology creating a two-fold experience where the live-performance is one part and the smart phone performance – Oblivia in the pocket using the Arilyn app – another.
Premiere | 22nd of June 2017, Theater Rampe in Stuttgart.
ARTICLES ABOUT THE WORK
Chrissy Martin in Performance Response Journal
A collection of responses to dance and performance in Chicago “The first piece, Nature Theater of Oblivia, left me feeling a sense of delighted wonder and a heightened awareness of my senses. With only five performers, a fog machine, killer lighting, and an ambient sound score (both live and recorded), I became fully immersed in a day in the Finnish forest. The piece started with all five performers far downstage in handmade costumes of textured greys, whites, and greens, smiling and silently taking in the audience as if to welcome us into the space. After much silence and stillness, they began to make subtle upper body shifts and movements, becoming trees gently swaying in the breeze. I heard distant birdcalls, which I initially perceived to be coming from a recorded track. But as they continued this subtle, meditative dance, feet planted, arms swaying, I noticed their mouths were moving ever-so-slightly. It took me about 10 minutes to realize that each performer was creating a distinct and minute whistling noise, each player asserting a different bird call. The effect was delightful and mesmerizing.”
Martina Grohmann, Intendantin of Theater Rampe, Stuttgart on Nature Theatre of Oblivia in 2017:
“In this performance Oblivia confronts theatrical techniques with those of nature. A forest occupies the Nature Theatre’s stage. A soft breeze catches in the trees: diffuse light flows over a widely ramified rootsystem. A rock lies motionless. A faint murmur fills the the tranquil scene. Then nothing. Suddenly, animals scamper past, stop listen intently, and vanish again. Or are they joggers? An owl’s call pierces the night.
The stage, throughout these scenes, stands empty: only the performers simulate the forest or are present as a forest. They immerse themselves in the specific laws. Its atmospheres between day and night, calm and storm, the slowness of trees and the agitation of fleeing animals inform the dramaturgy. Minimal gestures and movements, the sound of their voices and their bodies are the elements out of which the performers, in constant interaction, develop a richly rhythmical, nuanced, and often comedic tableau.
The Oblivia ensemble devised and honed the underlying technique, which they call ”Do what you saw” in a series of projects. It lets the performers create a fragile yet engrossing space of shared theatrical experience enveloping the audience.”
Anna-Maija Terävä | Dancer 