“No one stays behind”: a performance about the time we live in
Kjell Mogberg is the director of NIE theater which is an international theater company that performs in a wide range of countries, focusing on current day themes and stories. NIE has its home base in Czechia, Norway and the U.K. I caught up with him last week and asked him to tell me something about the performance that he is bringing to Prague called “No One Stays Behind” (Jeden a Jeden a Jeden).
So can you tell us a little bit about this performance?
“Yeah, we are just making it. It is a devised piece by 22 young aspiring artists; some of them have studied acting or music, and some are just about to enter the professional field of art. That was the whole idea behind the project for me: to bring young people together to make a performance about the time we live in. We had an open call in February, and 250 people applied. We asked 70 people to come and have a workshop with us for over two days, and then we chose 22 people. We are just starting the final pieces; we are opening in ten days, so there are still a lot of things to finalize. But lately, we have been working both day and night. Today we are moving into the theater Arch+, and we are looking very much forward to it.”
That's very intense but really exciting! My next question is what does the rehearsal process even look like?
“That's a very good question. It looks like all the rehearsal processes at NIE, where we start with nothing and it becomes something really exciting. It starts with a lot of physical exercise and many discussions about their lives and what they are interested in. I mean, this generation of 16-25 year-olds has a lot to talk about. There are a lot of hot and strong topics. Our plan is to bring all of that out on stage to make a performance that reflects the time we live in. Most importantly, we aim to create a space where people can come together—so that No One Stays Behind. The idea behind the title, which in Czech is “Jeden a Jeden a Jeden,” signifies that if someone puts us into one and one and one, we can be that place where we can be together. The theater can be that place, and that’s the basic idea for me: that theater should be a place where the actor meets the audience, creating a unity. That’s the most optimistic aspect of theater, where you come into contact with the audience—and in that contact, significant things can happen.”
Can you give us a little glimpse of what one specific rehearsal would look like?
“Yesterday, we met at 15:30, and we played music for an hour. We have some people playing trumpets and bass guitar, with artists like Vaclav Kalivoda helping us out with the music. Other performers then came to warm up a bit and dance. Yesterday was the first rehearsal where I started to direct something with them; before that, we did exercises like throwing a ball around the room and talking. It’s a lot about being present on stage. The main work focuses on being present.”
If I'm understanding correctly, you don't have a solid form until a week before the performance?
“Yeah, but of course, we’ve been improvising and working on these 22 people being in strong contact. We had four weeks for this whole project. We started working together in June, and now we are in an intensive period of 15 days before the opening. Things go quite quickly with this bunch; they are really talented. So yesterday, we created three scenes, about 10 minutes of material.”
I can imagine they feel very comfortable with each other, when they know each other so well. So will part of the performance be solidified and part of it remain improvisational - being in the present moment?
“Yeah, we usually end up with a solid form, but there is always space for improvisation. We have to keep it alive. So there will be a solid form of 1 hour and 10 minutes. Of course, in the music, there will be improvisation, and there will be parts where the text isn’t fixed. But they have produced a lot of texts that will become the manuscript. It’s gonna be very, very exciting.”
I believe so! Who came up with this concept of having 22 young people coming together to capture the pulse of our time?
“That must have been me. No, it was definitely me! At NIE we always work collectively. I am the artistic director of the company, but we always work together. And as the artistic director, it means that I am leading the work, but we are finding ideas together. But the idea of having 22 people on stage was me this time because I really wanted a bigger group. Usually we are limited by finance and it's really hard to have a bigger group. To have 22 young people moving on stage together is amazing. The performance is made as a traverse, so the audience will be on both sides. So to have these 22 young people on stage, this makes for such strong energy”.
I can imagine it's very powerful. Your performance dates are on the 30th and 31st of October. To leave our listeners on an enticing note, can you just give them a few words or a picture of what they can expect from this performance.
“Yeah. They will come into a space with a very beautiful set, hand painted by Katja Ebel and some students here in Prague. They will meet a group of people that are very eager to be on stage and to tell their stories. There will be beautiful music and beautiful movement. You will laugh and most probably you will also cry because some of it is so strong”.
The performance Jeden a Jeden a Jeden will take place in the theater Archa. The dates are October 30th and 31st. Subsequently another set of performance will take place December 10th and 11th. Tickets can be found on goout.net
