Drilling through the vast world of entertainment and popular culture, from the shiny surface to the murky and private regions underneath, Oblivia’s Entertainment Island Trilogy is moving from the grand entertainment industry through local and to private entertainment, exploring entertainment and popular culture.
The trilogy has been touring since 2008 i.e.: in Kiasma Theatre, Helsinki, Finland | Baltic Circle Festival, Helsinki, Finland | Rosso Bastardo Live, Italy | PACT Zollverein, Essen, Germany | Fluxee, Turku, Finland | OKNO Festival, Szczecin, Poland | National Theatre, Faroe Islands | Lókal festival, Reykjavik, Iceland | Entréscenen, Aarhus Festival, Denmark | Dance in August, von Krahli Theatre, Tallinn, Estonia | Hangö Teaterträff, Finland | Center for Contemporary Art – CCA, Glasgow, UK | Residenz Theatre, Munich, Germany | MDT – Moderna Dansteatern, Stockholm, Sweden | Avant Garden, Bastard festival, Trondheim, Norway | Yeah Yeah Yeah festival, Zürich, Switzerland | SPILL festival 2013, Soho Theatre, London | Teatr-Akcje Festival, Suwalki, Poland | Nordwind: Hau, Berlin, Germany | Nordwind: Kampnagel, Hamburg, Germany | Mad House, Helsinki, Finland | Spill Festival, Ipswich, UK + more to come!
Entertainment Island 1
Entertainment Island 1 an energetic take on the structures of the entertainment industry. An array of gestures, movements and sounds emanating from the entertainment industry are presented in this energetic performance unveiling the mechanisms of popular culture.
We spent weeks doing funny walks and telling bad jokes while pulling out false limbs and making funny faces. We were stuck and not the least funny. We had to face what we knew from the start: we are not entertainers. Entertainment Island 1 premiered in October 2008 during the /theatre.now festival at Kiasma Theatre.
Entertainment Island 2
Entertainment Island 2 a hilarious performance on lifestyle, news and soap operas, where local culture meets global. The constant bombardment of moving images juxtaposed with passivity of mind uncovered a new approach. We embodied the fuzzy quality of bad television. A series of commercial breaks, wild west, super heroes, shoot outs, feel good, seedy bars and corrupt affairs rushes past, leaving all but a trail of pulp. Entertainment Island 2 premiered in November 2009 during the Baltic Circle festival at Kiasma Theatre.
Entertainment Island 3
Entertainment Island 3 shows the dark side of popular culture through a look at private entertainment in a minimalist manner characteristic for Oblivia. There we were, locked in a dark rehearsal room wondering what would be the next approach in our exploration of entertainment. We found ourselves submerged in the darkest recesses of a warped imagination. The notion of private entertainment led to an excursion into the world of voyeur. Entertainment Island 3 premiered during the Baltic Circle festival.
Working group: devising and on stage: Timo Fredriksson, Anna Krzystek, Annika Tudeer; lights: Meri Ekola; sound: Juuso Voltti; photography: Eija Mäkivuoti; production: Oblivia, Marina Andersson-Rahikka; co-production: Kiasma Theatre, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; supporters: CCA Centre for Contemporary Art (UK), PACT Zollverein (GER), Produforum, Svenska Kulturfonden, Arts Council Finland, Arts Council Helsinki, Kulturkontakt Nord, Nordic Cultural Fund, Alfred Kordelin Fund, AVEK, Arbetets Vänner, Sparbanksstiftelsen
Entertainment Island is also
Film | Time Passes In a vast landscape two characters are digging holes in the ground. They argue about shovels and the structure of the holes. They take breaks and look out. The silent film combines silent slapstick with long shots of stillness. Time Passes looks at entertainment from an existentialist perspective.
Exhibition | The Entertainment Island photo series by Eija Mäkivuoti (FIN) relates to different photographic genres capturing subtle yet iconic images of pop culture and entertainment.
Entertainment Island Infosheet | Download PDFTechnical Rider – Audio Requirements | Download PDF
Technical Rider – Lightplot | Download PDF
