By Kristin E. Bjørn and Bjørn Are Dypås
We raise our heads in shame is a newly written North Norwegian opera. A science fiction drama from a future, not so distant.
Norway promotes environmental protection and is active in peace mediation all around the world. At the same time Norway earns big money on the oil industry and export of arms. How does this duality affect us? And how does it affect us to be dependent on a wealth that we know is based on the exploitation of others?
«The alternatives are not placid servitude on the one hand and revolt against servitude on the other. There is a third way, chosen by thousands and millions of people every day. It is the way of quietism, of willed obscurity, of inner emigration.»J.M. Coetzee.
The characters in We raise our heads in shame dream of simple answers. When the natural child, Bror, unexpectedly shows up among them, he becomes a most involuntary role model and a reluctant leader figure.
The first part of the performance is a play with the form of an opera. The second part, The Democracy, is an interactive meeting with the audience.
The script is developed in joint co-operation with Ferske Scener.
Credit Line (2011)