The Explosive Sonics of Divinity / Der Klang der Offenbarung des Göttlichen is a new theater production by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson and composer Kjartan Sveinsson. Inspired by the novel World Light by the Icelandic Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness, Kjartansson’s piece works with a style of theater that has not been seen since in some epic flops in the late 19th century. Performative action has been removed in The Explosive Sonics of Divinity and actors are not a part of the production. These are tableux describing some romantic sceneries. Sveinsson's music is an emotional chorale based on Laxness epiphany texts.
The Explosive Sonics of Divinity / Der Klang der Offenbarung des Göttlichen features stage paintings by the artist and music by Kjartan Sveinsson, a composition for orchestra and choir, performed by the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg and the Film Choir Berlin.
Ragnar Kjartansson says: "I grew up in the theater, since my parents are both actors and directors, and I’ve always been in great awe of the non-narrative parts and the abstract components during rehearsals – the ceremonial mystique of a test phase when the actors are not yet on stage and there is nothing but the machinery, the props and scenery. I wanted to pay tribute to the mechanics and the formal elements of the theater. It’s a theater play without actors that will only use the stage and the music as theatrical elements, intended as an homage to the machine, to the art of stage painting and the scenery. One could also say it´s opera without divas"
Inspired by the novel "World Light" by Halldór Laxness, Ragnar Kjartansson and Kjartan Sveinsson set off for a visit to the classical theater and its elements. World Light is about the incurable longing for beauty and following that exaple Kjartansson and Sveinsson are playing with romantic elements of beauty in a theatrical setting. Berlin´s Volksbuehne is an institution that has worked with constant deconstruction of romantic culture and Germany´s past, so the context of that theater is also a big inspiration for this piece. So much has been deconstructed that The Explosive Sonics of Divinity is playing with the fact that nothing is left but pure hearted banality.
Duration: 50min
Soprano: Alba Vilar
Alto: Ines Muschka
Tenor: Johannes Klügling
With: Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg and Filmchor Berlin
Director & Stage Designer: Ragnar Kjartansson
Composition: Kjartan Sveinsson
Painters: Victor Cilia, Thorvaldur Gröndal, Lilja Gunnarsdóttir, Axel Hallkell Jóhannesson, Ingjaldur Kárason, Ragnar Kjartansson
Visual Dramaturgy: Axel Hallkell Jóhannesson
Light Design: Johannes Zotz
Conductor: David Thor Jónsson
Sound: Jörg Wilkendorf
Dramaturgy: Henning Nass
In Kooperation mit dem Reykjavik City Theatre, mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York, der i8Gallery, Reykjavik und der Botschaft der Republik Island in Berlin. Eine Veranstaltung in der Reihe WERKE I-VI. Gefördert mit Mitteln des Hauptstadtkulturfonds.
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Der Roman "Weltlicht" wird verlegt von Steidl, in der Übersetzung von Hubert Seelow.
