Hermann Hesse’s 1927 novel Steppenwolf, much reviled and much beloved, is the inspiration for this production.

As in the novel, this work is based on the desire to grasp the complexity of human beings and what it means to exist. By bringing an existential and sensuous exploration of humankind’s past, present and future into the theatrical space of live performance, director and actor Espen Klouman Høiner, co-creators and collaborators seek to evoke emotions and sensory experiences that go beyond the narrative and drama of the text itself. This experimental approach puts the power relations between actors, literature and theater space into play and holds the potential to challenge the actors to navigate between different realities.

After living in Norway for 7 years I was waiting to go to a play in Norwegian that seemed interesting ... so I choose Steppeulven. I must immediatly admit that this was; language wise; definitely not the easiest one to begin with :c)

Due to budget constraints throughout Europe I start noticing that ensembles are being forced to show their performances ahead of time. Thus using the public performance itself as an important part of developping the piece further. Quantity is becoming more important than quality; and the balancing act of those 2 forces brings their own challenges.

I am happy to say that I did not notice lack of preparation/experimentation in this piece!

The people surrounding the play come from traditional text based theater. And this is very noticible as they where playing with words and meanings throughout the play. The humor; spontaniousity throughout the play was very noticible for me as audience and as there where many variables within the piece that forced the actors to adjust their roles on the spot.

I really enjoyed the piece; even though at times the voices where somewhat muffled and hard to comprehend as a non native. I also loved the balancing act between the different personas; their struggles; passions and dissapointments and the means that they brought this message accross.