Extended program Spring 2025

- Photo Anna Penkova
Spring 2025
All events in the foyer are free of charge
● Season Opening
Thursday, 23 January / 18:00
Foyer
Presentation of the season program with theatre director Jørgen Knudsen
● Breakfast Conversation with Maritea Dæhlin and Ulf Nilseng
Tuesday, 28 January / 09:00–10:30
Foyer
Each season, Black Box teater invites artist Maritea Dæhlin to curate and moderate breakfast conversations with invited guests. We serve a simple breakfast, coffee, and tea, and invite the audience to join the conversation. This time, Maritea Dæhlin has invited dance artist Ulf Nilseng.
Ulf Nilseng graduated from the National Academy of Ballet and has worked as a dancer in the independent performing arts field ever since. He has created performances and residencies both in Norway and abroad, including in Nepal, Cuba, Mexico, Germany, Sweden, and France. He was affiliated with Kreutzerkompani and choreographer Eva Cecilie Richardsen for several years and co-founded TOYBOYS with Terje Tjøme Mossige in 2002, focusing on homosexual dance art with the motto: "We are here, we are queer, get used to it!" In 2015, he founded the company ULF, creating the trilogy ULF Goes Religious and Turning Vinegar Into Wine with his artistic team. Nilseng has held various positions, including vice-chair of NODA (Norwegian Dance Artists), and has received several grants, including the prestigious 10-year work grant for established artists from the Norwegian state. In 2022, he was awarded the Dance Information Norway Honorary Award for his work in homosexual dance art.
Maritea Dæhlin is an artist based in Norway and Mexico. Her work spans theatre, video performance, performance art, sound art, and stage text, characterized by multilingualism, non-linearity, and occasional absurdity. She was an associate artist at Black Box Teater (2021–2022).
● Metamodernism – An Introduction by Timotheus Vermeulen
Thursday, 30 January / 17:30
Foyer
Metamodernism frequently appears in discussions about contemporary art and cultural expressions. The term attempts to capture a tendency in art where sincerity, grand narratives, hope, and truth return to the agenda while postmodern irony, deconstruction, and relativism remain present. How does art respond to a time dominated by crises and dystopias?
Timotheus Vermeulen was one of the early writers on this concept and now visits Black Box Teater to provide an introduction. Metamodernism has been a guiding idea in the creation of the performance Juanitas (Berstad/Helgebostad/Mariblanca), which audiences will have the opportunity to see after the introduction.
● Conversation
Thursday, 20 February
Foyer
Following the performance Echo Puncture, there will be a discussion between U.S. expert Lisa Ann Cooper and Maria Lloyd.
Lisa Ann Cooper is an American entrepreneur and leader who has founded several ventures in Norway focusing on social change, diversity, and inclusion. She has 35 years of international experience, has been a top executive in both the private and public sectors, and serves as chair of AHO and Equality Check.
● Aftertalk
Friday, 21 February
Foyer
After the performance Echo Puncture, there will be an artist talk with interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker Maria Lloyd in the foyer.
● DJ
Saturday, 22 February / 20:30
Foyer
After the performance, DJ Lufax sets the mood, playing mostly dark psychedelic techno with groovy beats.
● Seminar on the Closure of the Norwegian Theatre Academy (NTA) Thursday, 3 April / 13:00–17:00
NTA Alumni organizes a seminar at Black Box teater to address the closure of the Norwegian Theatre Academy, its legacy, and its possible future. The decision to close the academy was made swiftly, within two months, with minimal participation and influence from stakeholders. This has sparked significant engagement: How could this happen? How do we preserve the legacy of the school and its artistic community?
The seminar will include panel discussions with experts and key figures from the performing arts field, organizations, and institutions. More details will be announced on the website. The seminar will be held in both Norwegian and English.
● Football-Themed Theatre Prologue #2 with Lise Klaveness and Morten Gjelten
Friday, 2 May / 17:00
Foyer
Welcome to the Football-Themed Theater Prologue. This time, we are tackling a topic that is intensely debated in both football and theater: freedom of speech. What kind of space do we have for expression? What culture of expression exists? And what does freedom of speech truly entail?
To discuss these questions, we will be joined by Football Association President Lise Klaveness and the Director of the Norwegian Theater and Orchestra Association (NTO), Morten Gjelten. The conversation will be moderated by Roger Karlsen, administrative leader at Black Box teater and an enthusiastic football expert.
Lise Klaveness is a Norwegian lawyer and former football player who, since March 2022, has been the president of the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF). During her early tenure as president, she has focused on human rights and ensuring equal opportunities for all, regardless of factors such as skin color or LGBT+ identity.
From 1997 to 2011, she played professional football for various top clubs and earned 73 caps for the Norwegian national team. After her playing career, she worked as an expert commentator for NRK. From 2018 to 2022, she was the Director of Elite Football in the top management of the Norwegian Football Federation.
Morten Gjelten is the Director of the Association of Norwegian Theatres and Orchestras (NTO). He was previously the director of Trøndelag Teater and Det Norske Teatret and has worked in the industry since 1989. Gjelten studied economics in Bergen (NHH) in the 1980s.
He grew up in Hamar, making him a lifelong Ham-Kam supporter, in addition to his longstanding love for Arsenal, which dates back to 1971. Gjelten is also a co-founder of SOFT, an association dedicated to bringing together football and theater.
● Breakfast Conversation with Maritea Dæhlin and Sandra Mujinga Wednesday, 14 May / 09:00–10:30
Foyer
Welcome to the second breakfast conversation of the season, this time with artist Sandra Mujinga! We serve a simple breakfast, coffee, and tea, and invite the audience to join the conversation.
Sandra Mujinga is a Norwegian interdisciplinary artist and musician working between New York, Berlin, and Oslo. Her work plays with visibility and invisibility, exploring themes of self-representation and identity through video, textiles, performance, music, sculpture, and installation.
Mujinga's first institutional solo exhibition was Time as a Shield at Kunsthalle Basel in Switzerland (2024). She also exhibited at the 8th Yokohama Triennale in Japan, titled Wild Grass: Our Lives (2024), and has presented several solo and group exhibitions at venues such as the Museum der bildenden Künste in Leipzig and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. She also participated in the Gothenburg International Biennial for Contemporary Art in September 2023.
● Book Launch: Scenkunstklassiker #6: Golden Ája Lapland Casino & Motel by Sigbjørn Skåden
Thursday, 15 May / 18:00
Foyer
The sixth volume in the Scenekunstklassiker series (Performing Arts Classics) is written by Sigbjørn Skåden and explores his 2015 work Golden Ája Lapland Casino & Motel, created in collaboration with visual artist and architect Joar Nango. This unique, one-night interactive theatre installation took place in a decommissioned prayer house in Balsfjord, Troms, addressing themes of Indigenous autonomy.
The project was based on a research trip to Indigenous reservations and other Indigenous structures in four U.S. states, where Skåden and Nango drew inspiration to transfer such autonomous mechanisms to Sámi contexts. The result was an installation that took the form of a Sámi casino, where the audience was given access to a fully immersive casino experience.
Visitors had the opportunity to gamble on roulette, blackjack, and poker using their own money, as well as the option to purchase private experiences from the casino’s hostesses. Additionally, through the casino’s promotional materials, the audience was introduced to its mysterious founder: the Sámi investor and entrepreneur Anders Andersson Labba.
Sigbjørn Skåden, from Láŋtdievvá/Planterhaugen in Southern Troms, is a Sámi author who writes in both Sámi and Norwegian. He made his debut in 2004 with the poetry collection Skuovvadeddjiid gonagas (The King of the Shoemakers) and has since published numerous works, including another poetry collection, a children's book, and three novels.
His literary career also includes a significant number of texts for theater and cross-disciplinary art projects. Among his achievements, Skåden has been named Young Artist of the Year at Riddu Riđđu, nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize and P2 Listeners' Novel Prize, and awarded the Havmann Prize for the best book of the year by a Northern Norwegian author.
● Friday Forum: I'm Here for the Vibes, Not the Drama
Friday 13 June / 13:00–17:00 Foyer
For the first time, Black Box Teater invites you to Friday Forum – a professional seminar exploring various topics related to performing arts. The program includes presentations, a panel discussion, and a Q&A. Simple food and coffee/tea will be served.
This first edition of Friday Forum will reflect on Hans-Thies Lehmann's seminal book Postdramatic Theatre (1999). 26 years later, we ask: Where does postdramatic theatre stand today? Does it hold the same relevance? What are the prospects for the future of theatre?
Participants: Florian Malzacher, Trine Falch, and more.
The seminar is part of Heddadagene 2025. The full program will be announced on blackbox.no in the spring.