Elements of Staging

Here are a few Video Clips from my Directing Excam “The Three Penny opera.

Pirate Jenny

Ballad of Sexual Dependency

Cannon Song

Finally I managed to upload the collection of images from my Directing Exam: The threepenny opera which were performed thrice during the 5th and 6th of May, 2008 at the Theatre of Cruelty in Oslo. Wordpress seems to be a bit clumsy so you have to click the images twice to see them full size.

I took the ensemble to see Malvius’ version of the Three Penny Opera at “det norske teatret.” Our intentions were to steal ideas to our performance and of course leave out the obvious flaws. To me it was inspiring to understand the importance of a clear concept, because this performance did indeed lack clarity. It’s all in what you expect. If you expect to be mindlessly entertained this performance does just that, but if you expect something with intentions and meaning, stay home. It’s completely without cause. You can’t transform Brecht’s epic theatre into traditional dramatic theatre without losing something on the way. The director, Malvius has pacified and tamed the play instead of releasing its social and political power. Gone is Brecht’s ideas of beggars and Brown’s motivation for arresting Mackie. This makes great holes in the storyline, filled by people in ski-masks dancing with flags and generally making no sense at all. The last scene is incomprehensible.

I believe my actors also were inspired by the accomplishments and errors of the performance. The actors are strong singers but lack something important. The flatness of the characters are evident and I can honestly say that our Mrs. Peachum is way stronger on stage compared to the whimsical version of her we saw tonight. Brown was disastrous, a rambling maniac without impulses and motivation, sadly a victim by the inconsistencies in the storyline.

The Threepenny opera was, all in all an entertaining, but confusing performance given by the ensemble of “det norske teatret,” and director Georg Malvius.