Verdensteatret Bridge over Mud is a perfect theater, the one that reminds of theater Edward Gordon Craig’s evokes in his essay “The Actor and the Ubermarionette.” “If you can find in nature a new material, one which has never been used by man to give form to his thoughts,” writes Craig, “then you can say that you are on the high road towards creating a new art. For you have found that by which you can create it.” (EGC, “The Actor and the Ubermarionette”, The Mask, Vol. 1. p.

There’s a 1929 painting by the American artist Arthur Dove that I’ve loved for a long time, though I’ve only ever seen it in reproduction. It’s called Fog Horns, and though you can read in it landscape and layers of atmosphere and distance, it is as much about sound as it is space, as Dove’s title signals. Concentric ovals suggest the way sound travels, starting loud and concentrated at a center and then softening as it moves out from its source, waves of sound over and overlapping waves of water. 

Verdensteatret’s Bridge Over Mud begins with the same intention as the Annunciation but is different from the Latin version of Gabriel’s announcement to Virgin Mary. It begins, however, with the announcement of the arrival of glorious life. 

The Seattle Times on Verdensteatret's Bridge Over Mud:

photo courtesy Verdensteatret

Program Note from the artists of Verdensteatret:

…the great span between the work’s deafening noise and fragile, unsteady space seems to mirror the many extremes of human existence. It evokes a quote from Andrej Tarkovsky’s science fiction movie Stalker: “Weakness is something fantastic, strength is nothing.” (review in Klassekampen)

photo courtesy Verdensteatret

The company describes the work Broen over Gjørme (Bridge Over Mud):

"A hybrid between concert, performance and installation,where the whole
space is played as one polyphonic audiovisual instrument."

photo courtesy Verdensteatret

Get ready for the full-immersion experience that is Verdensteatret with this short promo video.
Be sure to turn on sound!

photo courtesy Verdensteatret

Learn more about Oslo's intrepid Verdensteatret, see photos and images of past shows, learn about their inspirations and history and more at their website. 

photo courtesy Verdensteatret