PEER GYNTH. THREE NOVELLAS

From June 22 to 27, an international theatrical camp of “Theatrical Crossroads” project was held at the National Theatre of Karelia. The camp was attended by 10 actors from Petrozavodsk and 6 actors from Finland. The artists have already been trained together in 2019 as part of N. Demidov Acting School Laboratory (Petrozavodsk) and Summer Camp “Art of movement after J. Lecoq method” (Joensuu) and have become a great international team. The camp was held in the format of joint and individual online rehearsals: the format of interaction really paid off, becoming a new stage in unlocking the creative potential of theatre on both sides of the border and, of course, a unique working experience for all participants of the camp. Participants from Finland joined the class online on daily basis. From August 6 to 12, a creative team from Finland also filmed a video about the life of Solveig, one of the Peer Gynth characters, on the stage of Näyttämö Theatre in the Finnish city of Joensuu. “Becoming a Star with Solveig” series for “Peer Gynth. Three Novellas” performance included 7 episodes that tell the story of her fate, and became an integral part of the play.

“Peer Gynth. Three Novellas” performance was filmed from August 16 to 18 in Ruskeala Mountain Park . Initially the Russian-Finnish performance after Henrik Ibsen’s play “Peer Gynth. Three Novellas” was planned to be shown in the border territories between Russia and Finland. In the new reality, this became impossible, and the project team, together with director Kirill Sbitnev, developed a new concept for implementing the project: creation of a video version of the performance. A film crew headed by Alexei Babenko, Chairman of the Union of Cinematographers of Karelia, became involved in the process. For the video shooting of the final showing of “Peer Gynth. Three Novellas” in the Italian quarry of Ruskeala Mountain Park, they installed a mobile stage equipped with special light and sound equipment, as well as a screen to demonstrate the series about Solveig’s life. Individual episodes were filmed in the unique landscape of the park. Three days of hard work in the open air were an invaluable experience, and at times a real trial for everyone involved. The final video is presented to viewers on social media.