This June, Copenhagen will once again come alive as a captivating mix of performance art, theatre and music descends onto the city’s stages.
CPH STAGE is weird and wacky and utterly imaginative, and its vast performance program is sure to keep you busy!
Now in its fourth year, the open theatre festival will include 24 English-language productions and 99 performances spread over its 12 days, along with dance performances that are also accessible to Anglophones.
As well as participating theatres, the performances are staged at a number of quirky venues.
Many of the performers have travelled great distances to take part – from countries such as Israel, the US, Germany, Poland, Italy and France.
Below are seven of our recommendations, but it was a hard choice whittling down the shortlist.
Among the other English-language productions are Goebbels’ Lesson (June 5-7), Dancing with Ghosts (June 10-12), Naghol (June 10-12), The Elephant (June 9-10), Red Bastard (June 1-3), Accion Groila 5 – A Space (June 3-5), The Universal Position (June 8-9) and From Ass to Ashes (June 8-10).
As well as the many performances, CPH STAGE also offers readings, seminars, parties and debates as well as a flea market. (PM)
Stop Being Poor
June 1 & 2, 20:00; Dansehallerne, Pasteursvej 20, Cph V; 80kr, dansehallerne.dk; 75 mins
What does it all mean: the hamster wheel of life as we work, consume, sleep, work, consume, sleep, repeat.
Stop Being Poor examines the notion of public anxiety and fear we often experience living out a meaningless existence within a capitalist society.
The award-winning performance (By Proxy’s first) comments on this feeling of modern day madness as we go to our offices every day in a bid to feel successful and useful, coaxed further in by gourmet coffee and cool bean bag areas.
Scratch below the surface and a wealth of insecurity and doubt comes tumbling out. (AC)
Evil
June 2 & 3, 19:30 ; Folketeatret, Nørregade 39, Cph K; 100kr, folketeatret.dk; 65 mins
This is the story of one man’s personal struggle against horrific childhood abuse in which Claes Bang plays Jan Guillou, a renowned Swedish journalist and writer.
Guillou’s story – which was was originally released as a book of the same name in 1981 – is an autobiographical account of his traumatic childhood in Stockholm in the 1950s under the reign of his abusive father and later at the now defunct Solbacka school.
During this highly intense hour-long monologue the very core anatomy of evil is scrutinised and the audience is left asking the question: are we all naturally evil deep down? (AC)
Exodus
June 1-4; Sort/Hvid Regnbuepladsen 7, 4, Cph V; 140kr, sort-hvid.dk; 75 mins
The Swiss-Danish family Liebmann-Schmidt visit a house deep in the Sicilian mountains where they meet a refugee group and exchange stories and songs. This is a tale about finding new friendships in unusual settings. (AC)
She But Not Herself
June 4, 19:30; Forsøgsstationen, Sønder Boulevard 81, Cph V; forsoegsstationen.dk; 60 mins
The critically-acclaimed Out of Balanz presents She But Not Herself, an autobiographical work that explores the notion of identity, the notion of belonging at home, and the sense of feeling excluded. (AC)
The Dancing Human
June 8-12; Dansekapellet, København, Bispebjerg Torv 1, Cph NV; 80kr, dansekapellet.dk; 60 mins
A theatrical study that examines the individual personalities behind the veneer of the professional dancer. It looks at those whose main outpouring of expression is movement – their be-all and end-all is dance. (AC)
Trans Salvation
June 2-5 & 9-12; Warehouse9, Halmtorvet 11, Cph V; warehouse9.dk
Trans Salvation is a performance art musical based on the texts of Ramona Machos and directed by Christoffer Berdal. It’s a story of loneliness and one transgender woman’s struggle to find an accurate self-representation. (AC)
Everything Remains
June 4 & 6; Dansehallerne, Pasteursvej 20, Cph V; 80kr, dansehallerne.dk; 55 mins
A naked body lies exposed on a white floor with just a backdrop of the black stage; the performer, Juli Apponen, is a living and breathing example of the human experience played out in careful choreographed dance. (AC)
