MUOHTADIVGGAŽAT / THE SOUND OF SNOW
Muohtadivggažat / The Sound of Snow is a multilingual performance based on true stories from the border region between Norway, Finland and Russia. The starting point is the bicycle mountain at the Storskog border station, which gained international attention in 2015 when hundreds of refugees cycled across the border. Playwright Rawdna Carita Eira follows the story of one of these bicycles – and lets it become a common thread through eighty years of events in the area where three countries meet.
The characters are fictional, but the events they take part in are real. The stories are about escape and homeland, about the fate of the Skolt Sámi settlement in Njuõʹttjäuʹrr (Notozero), about war, chance encounters, closed and open borders – and about people who do what they have to to survive. The stories are woven together with a cappella singing and yoik.
Muohtadivggažat challenges the idea that everything must be said in one language to be understood. Sami, Russian, Norwegian and Finnish are allowed to coexist on stage, without everything being translated. The language mix is based on the actors' own mother tongues and language experiences, and provides space for expressions and life experiences that have often been relegated to the private sphere. Here, what we actually understand is examined – even when not everything is explained.
Muohtadivggažat is part of Ferske Scener's long-term work with multilingualism. The goal of creating performing arts that reflects the multicultural reality in the north.
Premiere June 23, 2021 at the Northern Norway Festival, Harstad
Script: Rawdna Carita Eira in collaboration with Kristin Bjørn Direction and dramaturgy : Kristin Bjørn On stage: Bernt Bjørn, Mary Sarre, Marte Fjellheim Sarre, Ekaterina Bespalova, Ivar Beddari Sound design: Gaute Barlindhaug Room and costumes: Ingvill Fossheim Lighting design: Tor Ditlevsen Direction consultant and audience design: Kristina Junttila Dramaturgy consultant: Tale Næss Producer: Siri Hallingby Børs-Lind Photo: Ingun A. Mæhlum English translation: Neil Howard Main collaborator: Beaivváš Sámi Našunálateáhter Collaborators: Hålogaland Theatre, Festival of Northern Norway Funding: Norwegian Cultural Fund, Barentskult, Sami Parliament, NORLA and Norwegian Dramatists' Association, Dramatikkens Hus, Hålogaland Theatre, Festival of Northern Norway, Tromsø Municipality, Rådstua Theatre House and Troms and Finnmark County Municipality
RECEPTION
Anki Gerhardsen wrote in Nordlys :
"The nice thing is that it shows our common history and common life. Today and then. (…) It's not often we see that on stage."
She particularly points to the performance's idea of community, and its open and unprejudiced form.
Rania Broud wrote on Scenekunst.no after reading at Scenetekstivalen:
"Even though I didn't understand a couple of the languages, I didn't find it problematic. (…) I don't necessarily understand everything, but I still understand."