All tagged theatre

Re-viewed: 3 x A Man Called Ove

The Re-viewed series is dedicated to reviewing cultural products rewatched, relistened or reread, and with this article, the series really lives up to its name; I have seen three versions of the story of A Man Called Ove. But what makes this story different and worth re-experiencing so many times, then?

The doors to the auditorium of the main stage of the Finnish National Theatre are shut one by one, in a consistent order, simultaneously on both sides of the audience. Darkness, so absolute that I cannot see outside of myself, I’m forced to look inwards only. Still dark.

Recently, I had the pleasure to attend two filmed theatre pieces. One of them was filmed live from London (Rocky Horror, gasp!), but the other was just a recorded showing. When Frankenstein’s monster shouted, “Come on Frankenstein!” and disappeared into the fog, my friends and I started clapping in a relieved frenzy. This instantly aroused some snarky, supposedly-under-their-breath comments from our fellow audience members.