The creation of an installation for a play and how it all came about. Here, scenographer Bård Lie Thorbjørnsen tells the story in his own words:

In February 2023, we started this project that came to be both a collaboration and artistic exchange between Unteatru and me. The theme for this devised theater was The Pied piper from Hamlen. The topic was how to integrate new technologies in theatre plays to create new sensorial and immersive experiences. My task was to design the scenography of the entrance at the play, that will be a touring, outdoor theater. The premier was on 24 of June 2023. The form of the collaboration was a 5 hour on-line workshop, 5 hour face-to-face workshop in Cisnădioara and Sibiu (while i was being present for one week in the village Cisnădioara and Sibiu, during and as a part of The Sibiu International Theater Festival, FITS), and 44 hours of artistic consultancy on-line and face to face from February to June. 

The meetings and discussions were both of a theoretical and practical character. Knowing the middle age legend of The Pied Piper from Hamlen, from childhood, I started working in an intuitive way. The process was changing between individual work and collective discussions. The theoretical exchange took form of cheering experience and knowledge from earlier work and theories. The working process took place in my studio in Norway, alongside with the making and rehearsal of the play in Romania, during April, May and June. Sketches, models (Scale 1:50, 1:10 and 1:1), pictures from the process, technical drawings and descriptions were presented in the meetings and send to Romania. The installation was produced in Bucuresti. And in June we built and finished it alongside the final rehearsals in Cisnadioara. The performance and the installation were presented two times on 24 of June, and is planned to tour in Romania.

The Mountain

Working with the installation I was concerned with memories of my own experience of the legend, reflection on the unknown fate of the 130 children that is told to have disappeared from the city Hamlen, on the 26 of June in 1284. This dark story evoked different feelings, reflections and it recalled an early existential wondering or fear. I wanted it to be open for interpretation. I was using intuition and the process led to different associations and expressions. 

I wanted to focus on the sensorial experience by isolating senses and underline them. Going from daylight outside to darkness inside was one way and going from an open space to an enclosed was another, both beeing immersive experiences. I also wanted to isolate the surrounding sound by using soundproof material inside the form and make a specific sound experience inside by putting in a directional loudspeaker. This would play a song by a children choir mixed with the sound of grasshopper. I wanted it to make a balance between a sacral and a positive sound from the summertime. The occasions in 1284 happened at the same dates as our premier. The sound of grasshopper is high frequent, and I can recall it being totally immersive when I was a child. As adults we gradually lose the ability to hear this sound. I wanted to recall and reconstruct this strong immersive experience from childhood and underline the distance in time, both to the actually happenings in 1284 and in my own history. 

The Pied Piper from Hamlen had premier 24of June 2023, in Cisnadioara, as a part of The Sibiu International Theater Festival, FITS. The Installation was present in relation to the performances.