Iona (2017)
Premiere:
June 29, 2017, Northern Norway Festival
Text and direction: Håkon Mathias Vassvik
On stage: Bernt Bjørn, Sulekha Ali Omar, Karl Flyman, Amund Sjølie Sveen and Tobias Leira
Set designer: Anastasia Glukhova
Dramaturg: Kristin Bjørn
Sound design: Amund Sjølie Sveen
Lighting design: Tobias Leira
Producer: Annika Ostwald
Supported by: Arts Council of Norway, Sound and Image Fund, Performing Artists Fund, National Theatre and the Northern Norway Festival.
STATEMENTS
"Iona is a playful and surprising performance with clear reference to the Bible's story of the prophet Jonah."
Anki Gerhardsen, Northern Lights (dice roll 4)
"We have long been subjected to a 'fat fiction that someone is in control'. The theatre performance Iona walks between the words, punctures the speeches and drags us under the sea, to tell us that it is all a lie. And everything is out of control."
Rikke Gürgens Gjærum, Harstad Tidende (dice roll 5)
When the future becomes too threatening – and it feels impossible to say no – it may seem like a good idea to run away from it all. That’s what the Bible’s Jonah, the reluctant prophet, does. But down in the belly of Leviathan, it doesn’t feel quite right.
In this performance, we try to see the power struggle over the North's marine resources from a place deep in the ocean. In a time when the world of science and the reality of politics seem to be separating, we look for ways to see ourselves and our time in a way that keeps us upbeat.
We will explore a space where we can together cleanse ourselves and prepare for what is to come. A place where we, like Iona, are chosen because we know we are torn between the solutions of the past and the catastrophes of the future.
Co-production
IONA is a co-production between the newly founded company Koie and Ferske Scener.
IONA is produced with support from the Northern Norway Festival.
