What would you do if your whole life was turned upside down overnight?

"When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself in bed transformed into a huge, monstrous reptile." This makes it difficult for him to carry out his daily duties. How will the insect Gregor meet the new world and how does he meet the world?

Forvandlingen (The Transformation) is a playful horror theatre for children aged 10 and up, based on Franz Kafka's novel of the same name.

Gregor Samsa is under severe pressure from his employer and his own family. As the family's sole breadwinner, he bears a great deal of responsibility, and must live a strict routine to make ends meet. If he fails to make enough money, the family will go bankrupt and be kicked out of the house. When he wakes up one morning as a slimy bug, he becomes unrecognisable and outcast. He hides his family away and locks him up. Gregor waives all demands, but is isolated in his room.

Although Kafka's novel was written in 1915, today we can identify with Gregor's situation. He feels alone, he arouses disgust and no one understands him. At the same time, Gregor Samsa's sudden transformation can be a metaphor for a constantly changing world. It can, for example, symbolise the transition from child to youth. Or a refugee who arrives in a new place, without papers and with a language that no one understands. Or a person who can no longer contribute to society. For young people, Forvandlingen is perhaps more relevant than ever. More young people say that they live with pressure to perform and the number diagnosed with burnout is increasing. And in addition to this, many young people have lost their social arenas as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, when schools, cultural facilities and sports were closed.

On stage Runa Sætervolll, Nikolay Shchetnev, Per-Magnus Barlaug Technicians Matvey Shchetnev and Pavel Rumyantsev

Samovarteateret is an international performing arts company founded in Kirkenes in 1990 by Bente S. Andersen. We have produced more than 65 performing arts productions that have toured Europe, the Barents region and Norway, and have a strong community commitment. We are driving forces for the stories from the north to be told from the north. The company currently consists of five performing artists and one in administration. For our productions and projects, we have involved hundreds of professional stage artists, and thousands of children and young people, across national borders. The Samovar Theatre's artistic practice is about creating meeting places between people, between different artists and cultural actors, between artists and the public, across borders, cultures and professions. We work with informants and time witnesses. The result is stage art with a transnational idiom where newly written text, movement, multilingualism and music merge into a whole.

www.samovarteateret.com