This year’s festival will be very different from the previous ones. In recent months, the pandemic has affected cultural life in Norway and abroad. The preparation of Oslo Internasjonale Teaterfestival 2021 takes place in a very challenging context – but one thing is certain: the festival will happen!
Like the virus, we mutate. This year’s festival is in constant transformation. Over the past months, we had to cancel all international productions traveling from abroad. Over the past weeks, some of our Norwegian productions were cancelled, too, given the uncertainty of the cultural lockdown in Oslo and the growing spread of the virus and its mutant versions. At the end of February, Oslo City Council announced a new set of even stricter measures. On the 9th of March, the Prime Minister and the Oslo City Council addressed the seriousness of the infection rate in Oslo. They have called in for an effort, which requires taking further steps.
The safety of the community comes first! We are taking this responsibility seriously. The program will be smaller than planned. The number of people involved when live streaming is drastically reduced, and many artists will share their work remotely. Yet, the festival program offers a wide range of events and performances you may experience from your own home.
We will miss all the artists who were supposed to be with us. The artists that are still on board have searched for new ways of sharing their work. Together with them, we are now presenting an Online & At Home Edition of the festival!
Evolving around the question “at present time, what do we need most?”, this edition is conceived together with various contributors and guest curators. In this moment of forced isolation, we need more than ever to rely on the common, on co-construction and on trusting each other.
This year, we have also subtitled the festival “11 days of Live Art experiences” to emphasize that it is not only theater in its traditional sense being shown, but a range of live arts, online performances, seminars and talks.
We may expect more changes. Stay tuned! Stay safe!
We hope that you get a sense of proper festival feeling and experience a sense of community and togetherness, despite the physical distance.
We wish you a warm welcome to Oslo Internasjonale Teaterfestival 2021!
Update: Oslo, 9 March 2021.