A curious, engaging and quirky evening, which promised to present Norway in a new light. It certainly did that – in fact, was almost other worldly!
First on the bill, poet Frederic Lloyd, who with chalk, blackboard and oodles of charm told us strange yet true stories from the dark winter months spent alone with villagers on a remote Norwegian island. Petra’s Pulse, a visual theatre company, gave us space to breath through their sea-soaked imagery: a wet woman in a red dress with a burning boat; silent men in Wellington boots, yellow macs and hoods haunting our vision. Fishing nets catch a naked man-fish. A forlorn and troubled woman stands with pebbles at her feet. Two men in white suits dance a duet that is both serious and absurd. Further into the bill, a delighted Maria Lloyd gives us Norwegian Feet. She dances eccentric dances in a blue velvet dress, dons traditional old-style curl-toe skis, and translates to simple English Nordic melodrama for us. Our evening of Norwegian curiosities is rounded off by short films Maria has made in collaboration with Magali Charrier. We are an enthusiastic and enchanted audience. Something from a twilight zone, heading toward the Tundra.