The Museum Of Memories is set in an intimate space
 NIE

The Museum Of Memories is set in an intimate space  NIE

The New International Encounter (NIE) theatre based in Fredrikstad, Norway and at The Junction in Cambridge, UK, comes to Luxembourg with its latest piece, The Museum Of Memories. The company will put on two performances in English for school groups as well as two shows for the general public this Thursday and Friday. NIE artistic director Kjell Moberg, who is also directing the play, talks about its setting, the themes of suicide and memory, and how the group functions:

Did NIE set out to create a theatre piece that confronts youngsters with the subject of death or was it the subject of memory that was more important and death just a medium with which to explore this?

Making The Museum of Memories always had death as a starting point, and it was indeed suicide as phenomena I wanted to research. 

This production was made out of a need and a wish to make a piece of art that addressed difficult themes as death and suicide inside a frame that could give an extended space for reflection. Both these themes are in many societies and cultural contexts looked upon as taboos. My aim has been to open up these taboos, and to create a physical and mental space where it's ok to laugh and cry, to be a spectator and participant.

How significant is the set made of archive storage units in creating an intimate atmosphere that allows the audience to focus on the actors and their stories?

The concept of the set that makes an intimate space where the audience sits close together was one of the starting points to make this production. It was important to create a physical space where this production could take place, and for me as the director I found it very interesting use archives as a metaphor. A place where memories are in order, but at the same time a place where everything can take place.

What sort of reactions have past audiences had to The Museum of Memories?

The performance has visited a lot of countries, and students and other normal theatregoers have seen the work. In general the performance has been very well received, and even thou the theme is dark and difficult a lot of audience members have given feed back that it's a performance that makes you laugh a lot, and give space for a lot of hope.

As a part of the installation people can leave notes on a “memory card” to share their feelings or thoughts about the topic. Over the last years we have gathered hundreds of great, joyous and sometimes very sad stories from our audience members.

Why did NIE set up in the UK? What challenges are there in coordinating between the Fredrikstad and Cambridge?

NIE is a company with artists from 14 countries, but at the core of it has always been under an artistic leadership from Alex Byrne from the UK, myself from Norway and Iva Moberg from Czech Republic. Some of our work was made in the Czech Republic, and some was made in the UK and Norway. Having offices in the UK and Norway was always needed to keep the company running, and to serve the funders of the company We have been organising ourselves through services as Skype, beside monthly meetings.

How do you choose co-production partners?  

All of our co production partners come out of a wish of wanting to work together. In some cases there might be bigger institutions that want to have our work as a part of their program, but even then the main reason is that we want to work together. With co productions is always difficult to know if we will be able to reach the artistic result that is core to our work, but that is also a part of the challenge making artistic work.

Museum of Memories is on at CarréRotondes at 8 p.m. on Thursday 5 and at 7 p.m. on Friday 6 February. Tickets can be booked online here.