Sopphögen Review: Orion Theater – Karl Dunér
This is a fascinating and quite critical review of Karl Dunér’s “The garbage Pile” at Orionteatern. Here’s a breakdown of the key points and the reviewer’s overall impression:
Core Concept & Execution:
Creative Mix: the reviewer acknowledges the initial creativity of blending dramatized everyday ancient texts with fragmented dramatic scenes.
Uneven Experience: Though, they find the execution uneven. Half the time is engaging, fulfilling the audience’s expectation of something meaningful. The other half feels filled with “scabies,humorous and slightly boring scenes” and puppet theater.
Loss of Mystery: The reviewer notes that the papyrus texts, inherently mysterious in their original form, lose some of their power when embodied on stage. While this embodiment can be fun (like the Achilles scene), it ultimately feels limited.
Stream of Consciousness: The constant presentation of texts without context devolves into a long, overwhelming stream of consciousness – an attempt to replicate ancient thought processes, but ultimately feeling like “contextless babble.”
Emotional Impact & Connection:
Lack of Emotional Resonance: A central criticism is the lack of emotional impact. The reviewer, someone who can be deeply moved by ancient tragedy (like a child’s burial), finds nothing in the production that truly touches them.
Insufficient Presence: There’s a feeling of something missing – a lack of “presence” to ground the experience.Overall Assessment:
Ambitious Experiment: The reviewer recognizes the production as a highly ambitious and experimental work, something rarely seen.
Intellectual Appreciation vs. Enjoyment: They state they intellectually appreciate the project and even feel a connection to the people of Oxyrhynchus (where many of the papyrus fragments were found), but don’t enjoy the plays themselves.
Long Duration: The 7 hour 10 minute runtime likely contributes to the feeling of being overwhelmed and losing focus.
In essence, the review suggests a production that is intellectually stimulating but emotionally detached, ambitious in scope but uneven in execution. It’s a piece that tries* to connect with the past, but ultimately feels too fragmented and contextless to truly resonate.