A leading name in Finland’s performing arts scene, the group Oblivia has been selected for the NOperas! initiative, which supports new forms of music theatre. The initiative is produced by the NRW KULTURsekretariat network, Theater Bremen and Wuppertal Opera in Germany. Oblivia will continue its collaboration with composer Yiran Zhao and create the new work Obsessions within the framework of the program. The first collaboration of Oblivia and Yiran Zhao, the performance titled Verdrängen Verdrängen Verdrängen, had its world premiere in Stuttgart in February. The Finnish premiere will take place in October at the Espoo City Theatre.
As part of the NOperas! initiative, Oblivia’s new work Obsessions will be shown at two significant venues in Germany. The premiere of the performance will take place in early 2022 at Theater Bremen, and a further developed version of Obsessions will be seen at the Wuppertal Opera later in the same spring. In addition to Oblivia’s own performers, singers and musicians from the theatre ensembles will join the cast. This is the first time that NOperas! is welcoming international artists to apply alongside German artists. There were over 70 applicants this year.
“Life has been almost completely different since the premiere of Verdrängen in February. But the reception of the performance there in that life was terrific! Verdrängen is our first music theatre piece, and it is quite wonderful that this piece has a follow-up in 2022 as part of the NOperas! project. After a heated selection process, we were picked to our great surprise to participate in this amazing initiative with our new work Obsessions. Music theatre, here we come!”, says Oblivia’s performer and artistic director Annika Tudeer.
Oblivia celebrates its 20-year journey with the performance Verdrängen Verdrängen Verdrängen Oblivia marks its 20th anniversary this year with the work Verdrängen Verdrängen Verdrängen, a music theatre production about emotions, memories, and repression. The performance will have its Finnish premiere at the Espoo City Theatre’s Louhisali on 23.10.2020. The premiere was meant to take place in March 2020 but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the performance, Oblivia researches our collective subconscious and digs into pan-European memories and experiences in its distinct minimalistic, funny and detailed way. Verdrängen Verdrängen Verdrängen navigates a world where the familiar turns into something peculiar, where weirdness is the new norm, and where ghosts and aliens roam freely. The soundscape of the performance, from its notes of schlager to contemporary music, is being created in collaboration with the multitalented composer Yiran Zhao.
Verdrängen Verdrängen Verdrängen had its world premiere in Stuttgart on 7.2.2020 as part of the festival for new music ECLAT. Before the shows at the Espoo City Theatre, the performance will also be hosted at the SPOR Festival in Aarhus in September.
Founded in Helsinki in 2000, the international performance company Oblivia creates organic combinations of contemporary dance, theatre and performance art. The group is uncompromising politically and ethically and believes in the power of art and in the imagination of the spectator. You can follow Oblivia’s 20th anniversary year thoughts and feelings on the blog where the group has invited guest writers such as the theatre director, scriptwriter and performer Janne Saarakkala, Ilia Papatheodorou from the famed Berlin-based group She She Pop, and the German curator and dramaturge Felizitas Stilleke: https://oblivia.fi/oblivia20/
Oblivia: Verdrängen Verdrängen Verdrängen FINNISH PREMIERE 23.10. at 7pm
Choreographer Pia Lindy will host an introduction to the performance at 6pm at the Tapiola Library Espoo City Theatre Louhisali, Kulttuuriaukio 2, Tapiola, Espoo, Finland
Tickets: basic ticket €30, pensioners €27, students €20
Duration: ca. 60 min. Languages: English and German with Finnish subtitles
Concept and dramaturgy: Alice Ferl, Timo Fredriksson, Anna-Maija Terävä and Annika Tudeer
Performers: Alice Ferl, Timo Fredriksson and Annika Tudeer
Costume design: Tua Helve
Lighting design: Meri Ekola Lighting controls: Pekka Pitkänen
Composition, sound design and electronic live sounds: Yiran Zhao Songs: Alice Ferl, Timo Fredriksson, Anna-Maija Terävä and Annika Tudeer
Production: Oblivia / Jenny Nordlund in collaboration with Viestintätoimisto Röd / Katja Tolonen and Jenni Salminen and ehrliche arbeit / Elena Polzer
Co-production: Theater Rampe and ECLAT Festival for New Music, Stuttgart; ARGEkultur, Salzburg; Espoo City Theatre; Tampereen Työväen Teatteri Press
images: https://oblivia.fi/press/
Tickets: Espoo City Theatre box office, +358 9 4393 388, Mon-Fri at 11am-5pm. Lippupiste, +358 600 900 900 (€2/min + standard rate), www.lippu.fi.
Inquiries, press reservations, and interview requests
Communications Agency Röd Katja Tolonen katja@rodrod.fi +358 50 492 2017
www.oblivia.fi
www.facebook.com/Oblivia.fi
www.instagram.com/oblivia2000
