Jo Strømgren Kompani  (Norway) 

THE VIRUS takes place in a near future where something has gone terribly wrong. The source of the misery is found in a small desolate bunker: a machine that is infecting the world with a horrible virus. A small team sees the opportunity to solve the problem and give the world a restart, and an android is hired for the dangerous mission. But it turns out that even machines can have their own will, conscience and not least a very charming personality. THE VIRUS is a whimsical étude on the future visions of popular culture. Where classical drama strives for rigour in dramaturgy and themes, science fiction is dominated by improbable stories, logical errors and excessive pathos. Fictional frames are adequate for portraying human shortcomings and fears though. Furthermore, the performers communicate with nonsensical language. For those who have grown up with Chewbacca it should however be easily grasped, at least associatively.

JO STRØMGREN KOMPANI has continuously reinvented itself through an extreme variation of genres, from puppet theatre to large scale dance performances, from Ibsen to new drama, from film productions to provocative documentarism, from nerdy slideshow lectures to populistic entertainment. THE VIRUS marks the company’s return to a formula which has been in hibernation for nearly a decade: the nonsensical language melodrama. The blend of intriguing storytelling, extrovert gestures, nonsensical language, and large portions of dance is considered by many to be the company’s signature and backbone, implemented as a solid reference through touring in almost 60 countries.

Language: Nonsensical Portuguese and Icelandic
Premiere: La Fabrika, Prague, Czech Rep., 17 October 2016

Direction, script, choreography, set design: Jo Strømgren
Performers: Vânia Doutel Vaz/Charlott Utzig, Dag Rune Sjøli/Erik Rulin, Mikkel Are Olsenlund, Ivar Örn Sverrisson
Costumes: Bregje van Balen. Sound design: Lars Årdal, Ola Erik Blæsterdalen. Lighting design: Eirik
Brenne Torsethaugen
Co-production: The Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Bærum Kulturhus – Regionalt Kompetansesenter for Dans
Supported by: Arts Council Norway