Karl Dunér's cross-disciplinary masterpiece combines puppet theater with sound sculpture and live music, in a performance based on texts by Samuel Beckett.
Monday, 22 april, kl 19:00
Tuesday, 23 april, kl 19:00
Monday, 29 april, kl 19:00
Tuesday, 30 april, kl 19:00
Direction and Sound Design Karl Dunér
Actor Philip Zandén
Puppeteer Thomas Lundquist
Violin Anna Lindal
Flutes Kerstin Frödin
Clavichord Mats Persson
Technical support Michael Palosaari
Puppet maker and mechanics Thomas Lundquist
Recorded Voice Sven Lindberg
Translation Magnus Hedlund
Published by Columbine, Nordiska Teaterförlaget
Production Woburn in collaboration with Galleri Duerr
Supported by the Swedish Arts Grants Committee and the Swedish Arts Council.
Texts by Samuel Beckett used by permission of Edward Beckett
Karl Dunér is acclaimed as both a director and an artist, with an expression that often defies categorization. Ping och Skallarna / Ping and the Skulls is his boundary-breaking performance featuring actor Philip Zandén, puppeteer Thomas Lundquist, and musicians Anna Lindal, Kerstin Frödin, and Mats Persson. Here, various forms of puppet theater are blended with sound sculpture and live music on the small stage of the Orion Theatre, in four parts:
Den första tablån är ett samspel mellan ensemblen och ljudverket Skallarna som bygger på Samuel Becketts kortpjäs Den gången.
The first tableau is an interaction between the ensemble and the sound piece The Skulls, based on Samuel Beckett's short play That Time.
The second tableau is a silent interaction between the performers and a large string puppet. Dunér's sculpture Kordofon 9 is included in the scene.
The third tableau is based on Samuel Beckett's short prose Ping and is a miniature play for a small room and a puppet figure.
The fourth tableau is a play involving three different two-dimensional objects. These objects are raised, lifted, and lowered on a large free-standing structure using a mechanical construction, eventually transitioning into a sort of optical illusion.
Karl Dunér is a director and visual artist. In 2013, he received both the Swedish Academy's Theater Prize and the royal medal Litteris et Artibus. In 2016, he also received the Swedish Theatre Critics' Association Prize. As an artist, he has had a long series of exhibitions, most recently at Benhuset and Galleri Duerr in Stockholm, both in 2023. As a director, his latest production is The Persians/The Trojan Women at the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten).
"Dunér's genre-crossing art is deeply original – here, moving puppets and talking sculptures inspired by Japanese puppet theater and texts by, among others, the absurdist Beckett. The sculptures are controlled by chance and accompanied in the performance by both musicians and a remarkable marionette puppet" - DN
Philip Zandén was long a member of Stadteatern's permanent ensemble and has a long list of acclaimed productions behind him, both as a director and an actor. Most recently, he was involved in the production Married III at Strindberg's Intima Theatre. Thomas Lundquist is a veteran in puppet theater. In addition to his work with his own theater, Svarta Katten, he has a long list of collaborations with SVT (Swedish Television), Marionetteatern, the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten), and Stadsteatern. Musicians Kerstin Frödin (flutes), Anna Lindal (violin), and Mats Persson (keyboard) are three of Sweden's most prominent musicians. Anna Lindal also leads the artist-driven stage Khimaira.
