"TanGhost" opened 12.June 2004 in Lillehammer.
The play got fantastic reviews and continued to get both that and packed houses with ecstatic audiences during the whole "TanGhost"-Tour in Norway 2004 which ended at The National Theatre i Oslo, during the Ibsenfestival.
"TanGhost" continued to play for packed houses in January, February and March 2005 at The National Theatre's mainstage in Oslo, Norway.
The project is a fusion of Ibsen’s classical text of ”Ghost”, world renowned tango-dancer Pablo Veron, new original music by Sverre Indris Joner, video art, and supreme actors from Norway – ”Henrik Ibsen’s home” – all is a very unusual combination, but nevertheless an exciting one.
This is a project in which a new generation of directors, designers and performers combine their talents in dance, music, video, scenography with texts of classical plays into a uniquely new theatrical fabric.
Ibsen’s ”GHOSTS” is filled with lonely people, unable to fulfill their dreams, trapped in their traditions. There is an underlying sensual aroma in conversations taking place in a ”polite” living room, surrounded by constant rain outside. For the ”TanGhost” team this was the perfect setup for bringing tango into the play. Tango is also described as a dance ”in which two lonely people meet, and dance out their loneliness”.
The Argentinian tango star Pablo Veron, known from the movie “The Tango Lesson”, directed by Sally Potter, is both actor in the production as well as its choreographer. As the performer of Ms. Alving’s dead husband, Mr. Veron adds another character to the original five written by Ibsen.
The visual concept of the production is a combination of imaginative lighting, video art and animation and Dobrusky’s simple, yet magical scenography.
“TanGhost” is filled with Sverre Indris Joner’s new original tango-esque music, with obvious links to modern beats of hip hop and Nordic sound of jazz.
“TanGhost” is a stage fairytale of Henrik Ibsen’s chilling psychology, tango tension, supreme dancing with Pablo Veron in the lead, superb actors of The National Theatre of Norway, exciting music, compelling visual elements– all navigated by director Per-Olav Sørensen
When on international tour, the text in “TanGhost” will be spoken in the original Norwegian with subtitles in English or the local language.
POS THEATRE COMPANY
was formed by Norwegian director Per-Olav Sørensen in 2001. The company uses the talents of a variety of artists for each production, but the core of co-creators like scenographer Pavel Dobrusky, costume designer Kathrine Tolo, and video artist Thorbjørn Ljunggren stays often the base of our productions. POS Theatre Company has produced the highly experimental drama ”Mensch!” where Sørensen co-operated with Kruetzer Kompani (choreographer Eva Cecilie Richardsen and video artist HC Gilje), scenographer Pavel Dobrusky, the musician Hans Kristian Kjos Sørensen, and dancer Jonas Digerud.
”Mensch!” was a visual fairytale with stunning creative solutions for telling the story of a man’s whole life in 60 minutes.
Compared with ”Mensch!” - the storytelling-play ”Grand Old Man” was a project on the opposite end of the theatre style spectrum. Based on the text by the award-winning author Lars Saabye Christensen’s bestselling novel ”The Half-brother”, Sørensen created an unforgettable 1 h 45 min monologue together with 77 years old Espen Skjønberg – one of Norway’s finest actors of all times.
Over the last three years, POS Theatre Company has also co-produced several new plays with different theatre groups. Including "Vekkelsesmøte" - the newest show by and with the Swedish star-comedian Jonas Gardell. ”TanGhost” is a project POS Theatre Company has worked on since 2001.
PER-OLAV SØRENSEN (Director, concept and adaptation)
is based in Oslo, Norway. Created a number of new plays in USA together with Pavel Dobrusky between 1991-1997, including work like ”Stories” (based on Isabel Allende’s short stories in ”Eva Luna the storyteller”) and ”Beethoven ’N’ Pierrot” (a dream play based on Ludvig van Beethoven’s mind life) at Denver Centre Theatre. Both plays received Critics Awards. Between 1998 and 2001 he directed and co-wrote 9 new plays at Oslo Nye Theatre in Oslo. Many of them great successes with cross-over fusion theatre, including dance, video and new original music. Plays like ”Tater!” was also filmed for TV. Sørensen is also directing/writing drama for TV, including the hugely sucsessfull drama-series “Seks som oss” (“Six like us”) for Norwegian TV2. Currently he is staging Ibsens "Hedda Gabler" for Trøndelag Teater in Trondheim..
PABLO VERON (Choreographer and Alving)
Veron burst onto the international stage as the choreographer and perfectly cast star of the 1997 film “THE TANGO LESSON”. Two years later he also appeared in the Broadway revival and tour of Tango Argentino. Veron is today considered the best tango dancer on the planet. Veron is such a smooth, anti-clichèdancer, that one wonders if the un-initiated even appreciate the technical mastery he exhibits. His kind of understatement and subtlety is what we appreciate in great artists of any genre. Veron travels today all over the world performing his tango.
SVERRE INDRIS JONER (composer)
As strange as it may sound - but one of the best contemporary tango-composers in the world is Norwegian and lives in Oslo. His band “Tango for 3” is known for its technical skills, inventive arrangements and power to experiment. Indris Joner has also composed music for theatre, film and TV. He has co-operated with Pablo Veron on several occasions. The music for “tanGHOST” is all new. Indris Joner composed in 2004 music for The Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchester, and in the fall of 2005 the music for "TanGhost" received the Norwegian Edvard-Award for best music composed for stage.
PAVEL DOBRUSKY (scenography/concept)
from Prague, has been based in New York City for last 20 years. He works all over the USA and in Europe. Mr. Dobrusky’s European credits with Stein Winge include projects in major Scandinavian theatres and opera in Germany. With Mr. Sørensen in Oslo he staged Dracula, Tante Augusta among others. At the Denver Theatre Center, as an Artistic Associate, Mr. Dobrusky's credits include conceiving, writing/adapting, directing and designing such projects as Stories (adapted from I. Allende’s short works), The Star Fever, Beethoven 'N' Pierrot, Don Quixote, and Fables. Some of them in collaboration with Sørensen. Other US credits include over 50 productions for major regional theatres. Pavel’s future projects include Gesualdo Whispers and The Rat Piper, a CircOpera. Mr. Dobrusky has received numerous awards.
KATHRINE TOLO (Costume design)
She has been working with costumes, sculpture, light design, and set design in Norway, Germany, Belgium and Portugal. Her costume design includes work in theatre, dance, film, opera and commercials. She is working at the National Theatre in Norway – as well as with the Berlin-based dance company Kreutzer Kompani, and Swedish/Norwegian dance company Zero Visibility. The last year she has worked for Trøndelag Teater in Trondheim, and Carte Blanche in Bergen. She is also linked to a big Ibsen-production called 'Hunting for Nora', that is guesting Beijing, China in 2006
TORBJØRN LJUNGGREN (video arts)
Was educated animator in Sweden. He has combined making special effects for the movie industry, with creating live video shows for rock bands. He has (like Kathrine Tolo) also co-operated with Kreutzer Kompani, and he is making 2d/3d-animation for television. Since 2001 he has been co-operating with Per-Olav Sørensen on using video art in theatre. He made animation and video for the Alarm-show in 2003 and 04, and has worked on main-stage shows in Latter at Aker Brygge.He also co-operated with PO Sørensen staging "Alice in wonderland" at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen last year.
The Main Actors
ANNEKE VON DER LIPPE (Mrs. Alving) is leading actors at the National Theatre in Norway. Von der Lippe’s list of superb work includes Nora in ”A Dolls House”, both Olga and Masha in ”Three Sisters”, Lady Macbeth in ”Macbeth”. She has acted in many films both in Norway and abroad, including the Danish movie ”Barbara”. She has won three Amanda awards (the Norwegian film award), one international Chaplin award, and the Danish Bodil award. In 2005 she was nominated to an EMMY-Award, for her leadrole in the Norwegian dramaseries "Ved kongens bord".
ØYSTEIN RØGER(Pastor Manders) is in the spring of 2006 portraying two leading roles in “TO DAMASKUS” and “STONES IN HIS POCKETS” both highly acclaimed productions at the National Theatre. Røger is probably also one of the actors in the world with most experience doing Jon Fosse’s plays – with several Fosse-plays on his CV. Røger is also familiar with tango after doing the lead role in Per-Olav Sørensen’s tango-take-on at Aki Kaurismäki’s “I Hired a Contract Killer”.
He has also experience with Ibsen’s plays after being part of "When we dead awake", "Rosmersholm", and previously acting the role of Osvald in "Ghosts" . Røger has also a wide range of TV and Film work to add to his impressive list.
ALEXANDRA ARCHETTI STØLEN (Regine, choreograph assistant and management)
is Argentinean-Norwegian by birth, and arguably the best tango-dancer in Norway. She has studied tango in Paris, where Pablo Veron was one of her teachers. The last years she has also started to choreograph herself in plays both at the National Theatre in Norway, and at Oslo Nye Teater. She is also a great producer for cultural events and concerts of various kinds, and in 2006 she is the leader of World Music Festival in Oslo.
DUC MAI THE (Osvald, on TanGhost-tour 2006)
is currently working at Oslo Nye Teater in the Norwegian capitol. His work includes major roles in plays as "Hamlet", "Macbeth" and "A clockwork orange". He cooperated with Per-Olav Sørensen in the plays "Tater!" and "I hired a contract killer". Duc Mai The has also been a part of the dramaseries "Kodenavn Hunter" and "Brigaden" for Norwegian Television.
STIG HENRIK HOFF (Engstrand)
Stig Henrik Hoff has been involved in several feature films, television and theatre productions in Norway. His work contains feature films as: The Changelins, Scared to Death, Bloody Angels, Passing Darkness, and The seven deadly sins.
He has been seen in the feature film " The one who fears the wolves ", in the television series " Johnny & Johanna ", and the award-winning feature film " Hawaii, Oslo ".
He won the award for best male actor at the filmfestival in Rouen, France , for the feature film " Burnt by frost " in 1997.
He has a wide range of experience in theatre. This includes work with
experimental independent theatre companies, regional theatres, the
Norwegian National touring company, and The National Theatre in Oslo. He also stars in Hans Petter Moland new film, "Gymnaslærer Pedersen".
