Environmental theater

NYU Skirball will present the North American premiere of Toshiki Okada / chelfitsch and Eraser Mountain by Teppei Kaneuji on Friday February 28 and Saturday February 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the NYU Skirball Center. Eraser Mountain, performed in Japanese with English surtitles, examines the impact of our current actions on future generations and asks the question: “What are our environmental responsibilities to future generations?” “

After the great earthquake in Japan in 2011, a tsunami almost completely demolished the area around the city of Rikuzentakata and thousands of people died. The city is currently undergoing a huge reconstruction to elevate the area as a countermeasure against future waves of the tsunami. However, the use of local rocks to elevate the earth caused severe damage to the surrounding mountains. In Eraser Mountain, Japanese director Toshiki Okada and visual artist Teppei Kaneuji challenge this human-centered approach to the problem and ask us to re-imagine the relationships between people, objects, and the world.

chelfitsch was founded in 1997 by Toshiki Okada, who writes and directs all of its productions. The troupe is applauded for their unique use of language and physicality, and are widely regarded, both inside and outside Japan, as one of the leaders in contemporary theater. He made his overseas debut with a performance of Five Days in March 2007 and has since performed works in more than 70 cities around the world. chelfitsch.net/

For more information, visit nyuskirball.org.

‘klemet’ by bjørnådal arkitektstudio, hemnes, norway
image © born ketil
all images are courtesy of bjørnådal arkitektstudio

nestled in the hemnes valley, norway, local practice bjørnådal arkitektstudio recently completed a open-air environmental theater called “klemet” after a powerful Sami shaman who lived on the land itself. Klemet was of nomadic origin and lived a sedentary lifestyle with the farmers. constantly in an environmental drama, the memory of his spirit is deeply rooted in local history as he was a much revered person. open-air theater seeks to present all the factors that have made up his life through performance art and architecture as a form of celebration, remembrance and closure. the two reclaimed wood-framed towers form the scene of the outer boundaries projecting light and sound onto the audience and represent the shaman’s wands rising from the ground – a reminder of the presence of greater power. haystacks are used primarily as a scenic presence, constituting houses, fences, curtains or general backdrops, and represent the bucolic landscape and the farmers who inhabited it. the heller rock, which once housed the shaman and his family, has been recreated (after being destroyed in an act of cultural sabotage) using a mixture of glacier, stone, and ancient Sami building methods – depicting the shaman and his personal life. spectator seats are made from tree stumps discarded by local sawmills.

view of the performance hall, seats and towers on a gently sloping ground
image © born ketil

community gathered to watch the play
image © born ketil

the natural light levels of the setting sun contribute to the overall ambience of the site
image © born ketil

image © born ketil

site

elevation

elevation

project info:

architecture & scenography: hans petter bjørnådal
artistic director: ada einmo jurgensen
project idea: kjell joar pettersen-øverleir
playwright: stig bang
composer: kjell joar pettersen-øverleir
orchestra: tor petter aanes
technical staff: nordland theater
place: hemnes, norway
ended: 2013

danny hudson I design boom

08 Dec. 2013