Jon Fosse / Robert Wilson/ CoCoRosie/ Arvo Pärt
EDDA
The king of the Norse gods, Odin, is no longer the god he once was. The end is near. Odin will lead the old Gods in the final battle against their enemy, Jotnane. But he is old and tired and has lost memory of many things. In the Norse mythology the great god is not the creator of the Universe: he is himself a part of creation. And he is in every way human and vulnerable .
Robert Wilson’s Edda is based on Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse’s interpretation of old norse mythology, the religion that dominated Scandinavia until the 11th century. The sources for our knowledge about this religion are different icelandic scholars and authors written poems from medieval time. Fosse read the “Old Edda”- literature, and gave it his personal form. He created a dramatic dialogue with strong musical and rhythmic qualities, moving the stories nearer to us while keeping them different and remote. In this production for Oslo’s Norske Teatret, Fosse’s fascinating and suggestive text meets the visual language of Robert Wilson.
The music for Edda is written by Arvo Pärt and by the duo CocoRosie, who previously collaborated with Robert Wilson on Peter Pan (Berlin, 2013) and Pushkin´s Fairy Takes (Moscow, 2015).
EDDA was twice awarded the prestigious Hedda-prize 2017 for Extraordinary Artistic Achievement and Best Set/ Costume Design.
“The end is near and it´s magnificent”
— Dagbladet (N)
“EDDA is a Gesamtkunstwerk that spins through time in a absurd, beautiful and playful way … Two hours of a fantastic suggestive mix of exquisite pictures, burlesque and mythology.”
— Svenska Dagbladet (S)
Description
Duration 2 h. no intermission
Performed in Norwegian with lyrics in English
Based on an adaptation by Jon Fosse of the original Icelandic EDDA-tales
This production was first performed in Oslo, Norway on March 4, 2017
Direction, design and light: Robert Wilson Music: CoCoRosie and Arvo Pärt Costume Design: Jacques Reynaud Associate stage director: Ann Christin Rommen, Associate set design: Serge von Arx
Associate light design: John Torres, Dramaturg: Carl-Morten Amundsen, Musical Producer: Valgeir Sigurdsson Mask design : Manu Halligan Co Costume Designer: Alexander Djurkov Hotter Assistant director: Desiree Vaksdal Assistant Set Designer: Mari LB Kamsvag: Producer: Det Norske Teatret, Oslo and Unlimited Performing Arts Workshops: Det Norske Teatret, Oslo.
On Stage: Henrik Rafaelsen, Gjertud Jynge, Sigve Bøe, Frode Winther, Eivin Nilsen Salthe, Marianne Krogh, Paul-Ottar Haga, Joachim Rafaelsen, Ola G. Furuseth, Renate Reinsve, Tiril Heide-Steen, Jon Bleiklie-Devik and Unn Vibeke Hol
A production by: Det Norske Teatret, Oslo-Aarhus Teater, Denmark-Aarhus European Cultural Capitol 2017 and Unlimited Performing Arts
Robert Wilson
The New The York Times described Robert Wilson as “a towering figure in the 
world of experimental theater and an explorer in the uses of time and space on stage.” Born in Waco, Texas, Wilson is among the world’s foremost theater and visual artists. His works for the stage unconventionally integrate a wide variety of artistic media, including dance, movement, lighting, sculpture, music and text. His images are aesthetically striking and emotionally charged, and his productions have earned the acclaim of audiences and critics worldwide. After being educated at the University of Texas and Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, Wilson founded the New York-based performance collective “The Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds” in the mid-1960s, and developed his first signature works, including Deafman Glance (1970) and A Letter for Queen Victoria (1974-1975). With Philip Glass he wrote the seminal opera Einstein on the Beach (1976). Wilson’s artistic collaborators include many writers and musicians such as Heiner Müller, Tom Waits, Susan Sontag, Laurie Anderson, William Burroughs, Lou Reed and Jessye Norman. He has also left his imprint on masterworks such as Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Debussy’s Pelléas et Melisande, Brecht/Weill’s Threepenny Opera, Büchner’s Woyzeck, Jean de la Fontaine’s Fables and Homer’s Odyssey. Wilson’s drawings, paintings and sculptures have been presented around the world in hundreds of solo and group showings, and his works are held in private collections and museums throughout the world. Wilson has been honored with numerous awards for excellence, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, two Premio Ubu awards, the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale, and an Olivier Award. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and France pronounced him Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. Wilson is the founder and Artistic Director of The Watermill Center, a laboratory for performing arts in Watermill, New York.
world of experimental theater and an explorer in the uses of time and space on stage.” Born in Waco, Texas, Wilson is among the world’s foremost theater and visual artists. His works for the stage unconventionally integrate a wide variety of artistic media, including dance, movement, lighting, sculpture, music and text. His images are aesthetically striking and emotionally charged, and his productions have earned the acclaim of audiences and critics worldwide. After being educated at the University of Texas and Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, Wilson founded the New York-based performance collective “The Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds” in the mid-1960s, and developed his first signature works, including Deafman Glance (1970) and A Letter for Queen Victoria (1974-1975). With Philip Glass he wrote the seminal opera Einstein on the Beach (1976). Wilson’s artistic collaborators include many writers and musicians such as Heiner Müller, Tom Waits, Susan Sontag, Laurie Anderson, William Burroughs, Lou Reed and Jessye Norman. He has also left his imprint on masterworks such as Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Debussy’s Pelléas et Melisande, Brecht/Weill’s Threepenny Opera, Büchner’s Woyzeck, Jean de la Fontaine’s Fables and Homer’s Odyssey. Wilson’s drawings, paintings and sculptures have been presented around the world in hundreds of solo and group showings, and his works are held in private collections and museums throughout the world. Wilson has been honored with numerous awards for excellence, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, two Premio Ubu awards, the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale, and an Olivier Award. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and France pronounced him Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. Wilson is the founder and Artistic Director of The Watermill Center, a laboratory for performing arts in Watermill, New York.CoCoRosie
The New The York Times described Robert Wilson as “a towering figure in the 
world of experimental theater and an explorer in the uses of time and space on stage.” Born in Waco, Texas, Wilson is among the world’s foremost theater and visual artists. His works for the stage unconventionally integrate a wide variety of artistic media, including dance, movement, lighting, sculpture, music and text. His images are aesthetically striking and emotionally charged, and his productions have earned the acclaim of audiences and critics worldwide. After being educated at the University of Texas and Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, Wilson founded the New York-based performance collective “The Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds” in the mid-1960s, and developed his first signature works, including Deafman Glance (1970) and A Letter for Queen Victoria (1974-1975). With Philip Glass he wrote the seminal opera Einstein on the Beach (1976). Wilson’s artistic collaborators include many writers and musicians such as Heiner Müller, Tom Waits, Susan Sontag, Laurie Anderson, William Burroughs, Lou Reed and Jessye Norman. He has also left his imprint on masterworks such as Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Debussy’s Pelléas et Melisande, Brecht/Weill’s Threepenny Opera, Büchner’s Woyzeck, Jean de la Fontaine’s Fables and Homer’s Odyssey. Wilson’s drawings, paintings and sculptures have been presented around the world in hundreds of solo and group showings, and his works are held in private collections and museums throughout the world. Wilson has been honored with numerous awards for excellence, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, two Premio Ubu awards, the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale, and an Olivier Award. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and France pronounced him Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. Wilson is the founder and Artistic Director of The Watermill Center, a laboratory for performing arts in Watermill, New York.
world of experimental theater and an explorer in the uses of time and space on stage.” Born in Waco, Texas, Wilson is among the world’s foremost theater and visual artists. His works for the stage unconventionally integrate a wide variety of artistic media, including dance, movement, lighting, sculpture, music and text. His images are aesthetically striking and emotionally charged, and his productions have earned the acclaim of audiences and critics worldwide. After being educated at the University of Texas and Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, Wilson founded the New York-based performance collective “The Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds” in the mid-1960s, and developed his first signature works, including Deafman Glance (1970) and A Letter for Queen Victoria (1974-1975). With Philip Glass he wrote the seminal opera Einstein on the Beach (1976). Wilson’s artistic collaborators include many writers and musicians such as Heiner Müller, Tom Waits, Susan Sontag, Laurie Anderson, William Burroughs, Lou Reed and Jessye Norman. He has also left his imprint on masterworks such as Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Debussy’s Pelléas et Melisande, Brecht/Weill’s Threepenny Opera, Büchner’s Woyzeck, Jean de la Fontaine’s Fables and Homer’s Odyssey. Wilson’s drawings, paintings and sculptures have been presented around the world in hundreds of solo and group showings, and his works are held in private collections and museums throughout the world. Wilson has been honored with numerous awards for excellence, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, two Premio Ubu awards, the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale, and an Olivier Award. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and France pronounced him Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. Wilson is the founder and Artistic Director of The Watermill Center, a laboratory for performing arts in Watermill, New York.Jon Fosse
Norwegian writer Jon Fosse is one the most prominent names in contemporary drama. He was born in 1959 and is from Bergen, Norway. He is an author, poet and playwright, with more than 30 plays to his credit. Since his debut in 1994, his plays have been staged more than nine hundred times across the world. Fosse has been translated into Albanian, Hebrew, Catalan, Farsi, Sami, Slovenian, Tibetan and more than 40 other languages. He has previously received a number of prizes and awards, including the Scandinavian National Theatre Award (2002), the Arts Council Norway Honorary Prize (2003), the Swedish Academy’s Nordic Prize (2007) and the International Ibsen Award (2010).
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt (1935) is one of those composers whose creative output has significantly changed the way we understand the 
nature of music. Today, he is known for his unique tintinnabuli style, and although his earlier modernist works are perhaps less known to wider audiences, his entire oeuvre has shifted our perception of music.
Regardless of nationality, cultural background or age, many people have been touched and influenced by the timeless beauty and deep spiritual message of Pärt’s music. His works are performed not only in concert halls, but over recent decades also in film, dance and theatre performances, and other multimedia texts.
Honorary Doctorates:1989 Estonian Academy of Music, 1996 University of Sydney, Australia, 1998 University of Tartu, Estonia, 2002 University of Durham, United Kingdom, 2003 The National University of General San Martín, School of Humanities, Argentina, 2007 University of Freiburg, Faculty of Theology, Germany, 2009 University of Liège, Belgium, 2010 University of St Andrews, United Kingdom, 2011 The Pontifical Institute for Sacred Music, Vatican, 2012 University of Lugano, Faculty of Theology, Switzerland, 2014 St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, USA, 2016 Oxford University, United Kingdom.
Other awards and decorations: 1962 First Prize for cantata “Our Garden”, Composers Forum Moscow, Russia, 1978 Estonia SSR annual music award for “Tabula rasa”, 1981 DAAD fellowship (German Academic Exchange Service), Berlin, Germany, 1989 Edison Classical Music Award for CD “Passio” (ECM New Series 1370), 1995 Honorary Citizen of Rakvere, Estonia, 1997 Independent Russian Arts Award “Triumph”, Moscow, Russia, 1998 Culture Award of the Estonian Republic, 1998 Second Class Order of the National Coat of Arms, Estonia, 2000 Herder Prize, Germany, 2001 Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic, 2002 Annual Award of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, 2003 Composition Award for choral work, C. A. Seghizzi, Gorizia, Italy, 2003 Honorary title “Borderlander” given by the Borderland Foundation, Sejny, Poland, 2003 Classic Brit Award – Contemporary Music Award for “Orient & Occident”, United Kingdom, 2005 Composer of the Year, Musical America, USA, 2005 European Church Music Prize, Germany, 2005 Order of Most Reverend Sergius of Radonezh II degree, Russia, 2006 Estonian National Honour First Class, 2007 International Prize “Baltic Star”, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2007 International Brückepreis Award of the European City of Görlitz / Zgorzelec, 2008 Léonie Sonning Music Prize, Denmark, 2008 Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art First Class, 2009 Lifelong Achievement Award of the Republic of Estonia, 2009 Honorary Citizen of Paide, Estonia, 2010 Lifelong Achievement Award of 38th International Istanbul Music Festival, 2010 Baltic Image Enhancement Award, USA, 2010 Coat of Arms of Lääne-Viru county, Estonia, 2011 Hommage for Arvo Pärt by Konrad Adenauer Fund, Germany, 2011 Coat of Arms of Tallinn, 2011 Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor, France, 2011 Classic Brit Award – Composer of the Year for Symphony No. 4, United Kingdom, 2012 Prize of the International Festival Cervantino, Mexico, 2012 Estonian Music Council Composition Award, 2013 The Order of St. Anthony and St. Theodosius of Pechersk II degree, Ukraine, 2013 Orlando-di-Lasso-Medaille, Germany, 2013 Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, 2014 Lifetime achievement award by the Estonian American National Council for extraordinary contributions of artistic and cultural significance, USA, 2014 Praemium Imperiale, Japan, 2015 Coat of Arms of Järva county, Estonia, 2015 Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Cross of Merit First Class, 2015 Austrian Decoration for Science and Art, 2015 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) Lifetime Achievement Award, Estonia, 2016 Estonian Cultural Endowment annual award for outstanding contributions to the musical culture of the world in 2015, 2016 Honorary Citizen of Keila Parish, Estonia, 2016 Medal of the Pontifical Council for Culture “Per Arte ad Deum”, Poland, 2016 Cultural Merit Order of Romania in the Category of Music, 2017 Ratzinger Prize, Vatican