Visjoner Teater/Visions Theatre is a touring company with an international focus based in Oslo, Norway.
Visjoner Teater was founded by Juni Dahr in New York in 1988, while she was creating her first independent production «Joan of Arc -vision through fire». Visjoner Teater creates flexible performances in non-traditional venues such as barns (Growth of the Soil, Knut Hamsun), apartments (A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen), hotels (The Malady of Death, Marguerite Duras) and creates a close relationship with the audience.
To develop a new arena and performance space, gives us an important artistic premise for our work. The audience is close to the action and this gives the performers a more intimate, subtle and authentic way of expression. Site specific-spaces such as an empty house, an apartment, a hotel suite, a barn, a medieval church, a ruin or even an oil-platform are some of the spaces we have explored through the years.
In the theatre company’s productions the interpretation and the text is the core of the artistic approach, which is highly expressed in the two productions of Henrik Ibsen: “A Doll’s House” staged in small apartments, and «Hedda Gabler» staged in small houses, the latter currently touring international festivals.
Through her company Juni Dahr has created, produced and toured her performances. The theatre is intended to be an open artistic workshop, where different artists can develop interaction and new forms of artistic expressions. The theatre’s performances have always had an international focus and appeal.
Visjoner Teater is a non-profit organization depending on financial support from the Norwegian Arts Council and other funding’s for our creative projects, and run as a project theatre with the actors work as main focus. Visjoner Teater has through the years been working with very many of the best actors and musicians in Norway, and internationally.
The company´s work is often based on classical texts staged at site specific arenas with a direct and expressive performance style, combined with traditional acting methods. For each performance Visjoner carefully assembles a team of specially selected actors for the current production. For Visjoner’s long term performances it is essential to work with dedicated actors highly skilled in their profession. Visjoner’s productions are usually kept on the repertoire for a long period of time.
Visjoner often work with the classical texts. The company has been approaching Ibsen’s texts according to the concept of working site specific, in small and intimate spaces with a very limited audience seated close to the action. Through these theatre experiments both actors and public are challenged to a new meeting with Henrik Ibsen’s familiar text as it is taken off the stage and placed in unusual surroundings. As audience “Hedda Gabler” is perceived differently when experienced at home with the family, close to the characters, as eyewitnesses to the disaster.
The company has staged ”A Doll’s House” and “Hedda Gabler” where Henrik Ibsen´s drama is moved out of the traditional theatre space into realistic settings. “A Doll’s House” (2006) was performed in an authentic apartment, at the home of Nora and Torvald Helmer. “Hedda Gabler” (2011) first staged at a small house in a forest near the town centre of Oslo, the supposed home for the newly wed Hedda and her husband. Hedda Gabler has the recent years had a huge success at international festivals in Poland, Iran, Japan and Portugal.
Visjoner Teater has produced around 30 different productions, 10 of them still touring. Visjoner Teater has toured most European countries, many arenas in The States and Canada, in South-America, in Africa, and vastly in Asia: Bangladesh Dhaka, India New Dehli, Calcutta, Pakistan Lahore, Kina Beijing, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Ossaka. Israel, Palestina, Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, Jakarta.
Awards
Juni Dahr:
- In 1980/81 Juni Dahr was awarded a State scholarship to Poland to study at Grotowski’s Laboratory Theater. She has also been awarded a Fullbright scholarship.
- In 1991 Juni Dahr received the Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Award for her performance in Ibsen Women.
- 1993 she won the San Francisco Critics’ Award for her interpretation of Ellida Wangel in Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea.
Visjoner Teater:
- Visjoner Teater was nominated for the The Hedda-price (the Norwegian theatre price) in 2011 for special artistic skills. This is what the committee included in their speach:
Ibsen Women:
- In 2014 the prize of honor at Fadjr Int. Theaterfestival in Teheran with Ibsen Women opened a new and interesting collaboration with Iranian theater-artists. The performance was nominated as best “one act play” at ”Scenario 89” in Oslo.
- “Critics Award” i Los Angeles 1991,
- Ibsen Prize at Skien, Norway 1995. First prize at Carracas International Theatre festival 1995.
Hedda Gabler:
- Norway 2011: Hedda Gabler was nominated for The Hedda Awards in Oslo in 2011
- Iran 2016: Award for best female actor in Iran at the International Fadjr Festival in 2016 with Nina Woxholtt.
- Portugal 2016 Hedda Gabler won the honorary award for best performance at the Festival de Almada in Portugal.
- Portugal 2017. Hedda Gabler at Casa da Cerca was awarded prize for best performance at Almada International Teatre festival/ Festival de Almada.
