Harstad Cinema / screen 2

The Sirens – An Opera Film is an autonomous work based on The Sirens – A Foyer Opera a live performance by Crispin Gurholt at The National Theatre in Oslo as a part of Monsters of Reality 2016.

Regi: Crispin Gurholt, 2016, lenth: 26 min.

The Sirens - A Foyer Opera is inspired by the mythological creatures that lured sailors into death with their seductive song, Franz Kafka`s short story The Silence of the Sirens, and Greek politician and ex-finance minister Yanis Varoufaki`s manifesto Democracy in Europe. The manifesto is based on the original idea of democracy described by Plato, as an applicable ideal for contemporary Europe. Would it be possible to revitalise Europe with these ancient ideas today, or is it simply a desperate attempt to delay the inevitable collapse?

A large video projection with imagery from Athens filmed by Gurholt during Summer 2015, was integrated in the live performance at the theatre: Nature has taken over a nearly deserted Athens. Acropolis still hovers over the city, but the main symbol of our Western democracy is slowly dissolving. On scaffoldings between quivering columns and unstable walls a group of people is struggling a sisyfos-battle to preserve the fragile constructions.

One of the sirens has been separated from her herd. She plays the role of Greece, while the herd of sirens (chorus) interprets the role of Europe. The Sirens portrays a world in decay, a Europe in torment and distress.

Cast

The Siren of Greece

Mezzosoprano Désirée Baraula

Choir The Sirens of Europe

Sopranos

Karen Austad Christensen

Ingvild Farestveit Hov

Altos

Silje Indrebø

Birgitte Sandve

Tenors

Thomas Ringen

Hauk J. Røsten

Basses

Erik Hedmo

Martin Røsok

Eivind Støylen

Conductor

Ida Cecilie Holm

Libretto

Crispin Gurholt

Texts and text fragments

Yanis Varoufakis

William Shakespeare

The Smiths

Joy Divison

Rammstein

Nahum Tate

Thomas fra Celano

Music arrangement

Helga-Marie Nordby and Crispin Gurholt

Video Crispin Gurholt

Om kunstneren:

Crispin Gurholt (born 1965 in Oslo, Norway) combines live installations (tableaux vivants), photography, video, drawing and painting in his work. Through this combination of formats he seeks to uncover new stories and layers of meaning that arise in the transference between the different expressions. His subjects throw a critical light on society’s repressive mechanisms and power hierarchies, such as racism, domestic violence and issues raised by globalised economic or institutionalised structures.