Kunstellasjoner was a project initiated by Oslo Teatersenter in Norway, which invited struggling artists and theatre-makers during Covid-19 to explore and develop their skills in new ways, and in line with government guidance. Overall, 32 artists and theatre-makers contributed to Kunstellasjoner, which took place in four parts over a span of four weeks. Hiorth participated in Kunstellasjoner Part 3, that particularly aimed to investigate the relationship between the physical and the virtual on stage. After three days of working, devising and writing, Hiorth performed her piece PLAY which became her inspirational source for creating
A D I R A.
The making of PLAY was triggered by a conversation between Hiorth and her father. In prior to the rehearsals, he said that the reality of Covid-19 was like a bad dream he could not wake up from. Because of this, Hiorth brought the words "dream" and "anxiety" to the table when she begun to generate text and scenic material at Oslo Teatersenter. With the aim of finding her source of inspiration for the extended practical project at the University of York, she let herself work intuitively towards creating the piece, trusting that it would lead her somewhere useful. In the end, PLAY became a piece about sleep paralysis and not knowing the difference between a dream, a nightmare and the reality. The anxiety caused by this disorientation, as well as the musicality of the piece, are also (quite literally) key elements in the production of A D I R A.
The video above shows Kunstellasjoner Part 3.
The video below shows PLAY.
