IBSEN STAGE COMPANY - Key Persons
Andrew Smith (b. 1970) is a British-Norwegian composer with a growing international reputation for choral and vocal music that links tradition with a contemporary idiom. Andrew read music and English at the University of Oslo. His composing, a hobby since the age of eight, began in earnest in the late 1990s when he wrote a piece for the newly-formed Trio Mediaeval (Norway). The subsequent recording of this and other music for the Trio brought Andrew to the attention of the American audience and led the way to collaborations with groups such as New York Polyphony and Gothic Voices. Andrew's Requiem, composed for the Nidaros Cathedral Girls' Choir in response to the tragic events in Norway in July 2011, premiered in Trondheim in 2012. The work is featured on the Nidaros Cathedral Girls Choir album LUX, which was awarded a Grammy for Best Immersive Audio Album in January 2020. Andrew has been commissioned and performed by numerous choirs in Norway and abroad. Recent commissions include Lukaspasjon, a setting in Norwegian of the Passion according to St. Luke for Oslo Cathedral Choir, and O Antiphons for the Khorikos chamber choir in New York, premiered in December 2019. Andrew's musical style is best summed up in the words of Alexandra Coghlan: "… Smith's compositions incorporate medieval textures and chant, which are reflected and inflected through [his] own contemporary idiom, blurring the modal clarity of plainchant with vivid cluster-chords and dissenting moments of chromatic or dissonant color. The effect is at once familiar and unsettling in its strangeness - a distorted and original viewpoint on the past."
Berilslav Juraic has professional experience in producing and programming postdramatic and international theatre both in the UK and Croatia. Between 2014 and 2016 he was the artistic director of Sutton Theatre where he presented a season of contemporary North African theatre. His research interests concern post-war and contemporary Japanese theatre and performance, postdramatic theatre, multilingual theatre, theatre and migration and liminality in theatre-making. He has also reviewed international theatre for a leading Croatian theatre website, Teatar.
Job Titles:
- Musical Director and Harpsichordist
Christopher Bucknall is a rising star both on the concert platform and in the opera house, sharing his passion for bringing music from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries alive. He made his conducting debut in 2012 with Händel, Apollo e Dafne at the Wigmore Hall and has since gone on to conduct critically acclaimed productions of Händel, Alcina (Den Norske Opera); Händel, Agrippina, Partenope and Jeptha (Iford Arts); Haydn, Il Mondo della Luna (English Touring Opera); Monteverdi, L'Orfeo (Silent Opera); Mozart, Die Zauberflöte (Birmingham Conservatoire); and Cavalli, La Calisto (Theater Aachen). On the concert platform, Christopher Bucknall has appeared directing The English Concert, B'Rock (Belgian Baroque Orchestra Ghent), Instruments of Time and Truth, (City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong), Real Filharmonie de Galicia and the Norwegian Wind Ensemble in varied repertoire ranging from Monteverdi through to Mozart. He also regularly collaborates with the UK's finest vocal ensembles including performances of Bach's, Weihnachtsoratorium, with the BBC Singers, and highly praised preparation of the Glyndebourne and English National Opera choruses in works by Purcell and Rameau.
Christopher Nairne has more than 15 years' experience of lighting design for theatre, musicals, opera & dance, extensively around the UK and occasionally internationally. He won the "Best Lighting Designer" Offie award in 2016, for Teddy (Southwark Playhouse), and has been nominated on numerous other occasions. Previous designs for Ibsen Stage Company include Hedda, Peer Gynt Recharged (both Riverside Studios) and Recording Hedda (New Diorama Theatre). Other theatre includes: Mischief Theatre's Groan Ups (West End & UK tour); Blackout Songs (Hampstead Theatre); Tom Fool and Mayfly (Orange Tree Theatre); Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense and The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson (UK tours); Suzy Storck (Gate Theatre & France tour); Keep on Walking Federico (UK tour & Barcelona); Chasing Bono and Tumulus (Soho Theatre); The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Beautiful Game and A Little Princess (The Other Palace); Jerusalem (Watermill Theatre); Speech & Debate and BU21 (Trafalgar Studios); This Beautiful Future (The Yard Theatre); and Complicite's Lionboy (world tour). Opera work includes: L'Agrippina (Barber Opera); Madame Butterfly, Jephtha and Macbeth (Iford Arts); Belshazzar (Trinity Laban Conservatoire); Vivienne (Linbury Studio, ROH); and La Bohème (OperaUpClose, 2011 Olivier Award winner).
Job Titles:
- Designer
- Lighting Designer
Daniel Sørensen is a lighting designer who has worked with a number of national and international artists over the past seventeen years, such as Nico & Vinz, Wardruna and Florence & The Machine to name a few. He has also worked as a production designer for various companies at launches, as well as making custom stage clothes for, among others, Røyksopp and Gabrielle. With a background in art and fashion design, he has a good understanding of the totality of an artist's visual expression and is often consulted on everything from stage clothes to artwork for album covers in order to make it correlate with a live concept. In addition, he has held a number of courses around the country under the auspices of, among others, Kulturrom to raise his competence in lighting design and creative work at cultural centres and student scenes around the country. He has recently designed the opening exhibition for the new national museum, Nasjonalmuseet, in Oslo, and is currently on tour with Wardruna.
Dr Marie Wells was WP Ker Lecturer in Norwegian in the Department of Scandinavian Studies at UCL, where she taught nineteenth and twentieth Century Norwegian literature. Her research interest focused on the plays of Henrik Ibsen and published articles on his work in British and Scandinavian journals. She has also lectured widely on other aspects of nineteenth-century literature and painting. Since her retirement in 2007 she has translated The Familiy at Gilje (Familien på Gilje) by Jonas Lie, The Making of Daniel Braut (Bondestudentar) by Arne Garborg and with a former student translated Henrik Ibsen's Emperor and Galilean for the Royal National Theatre's production of the play in 2011. In 2008 she was awarded the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit for the advancement of academic and cultural values (Ridder av 1. klasse av Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden).
Finnuala McNulty trained in Theatre Design at Middlesex University and has worked at numerous fringe venues and arts festivals in London. For more than a decade she was the in-house lighting designer at the Rosemary Branch Theatre. Her credits include: The Marriage of Figaro directed by Martin Smiths; Zoop Zoop's musical production of Snoopy for which she did both the set and lighting design; The Maids and The Bow of Ulysses directed by Gari Jones; and Race with the Devil directed by John Joe Turner. She has also designed The Illuminated Trumpet for Royal Academy of Music; collaborated with metal artist Paul Badham on Innovation, a lighting and sculpture exhibition; and provided both the set and lighting design for Men Don't Go to War over Women at BAC.
Job Titles:
- Freelance Writer
- ISC Producer
Hilde Syversen is a freelance writer based in London. She ventured into journalism following her studies at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Jack Harris trained at Islington Music Workshop with professional qualifications in sound production, music technology and recording. Additional qualifications include a Diploma in Photography and Multimedia, attained at the School of Visual arts in Exeter. His work consists of both live and studio aspects. He also specialises in building DIY sound systems and creating mixes and ambience to specification.
Laura Caretti teaches Performance Anthropology at the University of Siena, Italy, where she was full professor of History of Theater and Performing Arts, coordinator of PhD in Comparative Studies: Literature, Theater and Cinema and member of the International Commission. Since 2000 she has co-directed the European School of Comparative Studies Synapsis (www.unisi.it/synapsis), and for the third year she is the lecturer and scientific director of Erasmus IP Playing Identities: Acting the Self and Society. She is a visiting professor at various European and North American universities, she is a life member of the post-graduate college Clare Hall in Cambridge and sits on the board of directors of INC (International Network of Comparative Humanities) at Princeton University. She has organised conferences and participated in various research groups i.a. the international project of the University of Toronto Culture and Human Security, with interventions on "Theatre and Human Security" at the Berlin and Toronto Conferences, and with the organization of a workshop in Siena-Pontignano. Since 1997 she has collaborated in the international activities of the Centre for Ibsen Studies in Oslo and is on the editorial board of the journal Ibsen Studies. She is also the author of numerous essays dedicated to the art of actors and actresses, directing, adaptations, the intersections between theater and cinema.
Lucia Conejero Rodilla trained in Fine Arts and at Central School of Speech and Drama (MA Scenography with Distinction. She has worked for Sony-BMG; the costume departments of the opera Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Spain; National Youth Theatre; the Tête à Tête Festival at the Riverside Studios; and at the Sutton Theatre, London.
Job Titles:
- Musical Director and Pianist
Markus Kvint graduated as a soloist at the Royal Danish...
Job Titles:
- Designer
- Lighting Designer
Sally Ferguson is a lighting designer specializing in design for performance. Her work includes lighting design for high-profile productions and a wide range of theatres including Nottingham Playhouse, Sheffield Crucible, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Royal Exchange, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Young Vic, Soho Theatre, Trafalgar Studios, Bush Theatre, Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, Southwark Playhouse, Park Theatre, Arcola Theatre, Queens Theatre Hornchurch, Theatre 503, Watford Palace Theatre and Riverside Studios.
Sally Winter holds a MA of the Arts from University College, Bournemouth. She is known for her high-quality work, originality and innovative approach to multi-genre design and her skills in translating the written word of writers and directors.
Job Titles:
- Technical Assistant
- Comnas Was the Artistic Director at the
Scarlett Plouviez Comnas was the artistic director at the Rosemary Branch Theatre in Islington, London from 2015 - 2021.
Sharon H. Bourke trained at the Wimbledon School of Art (BA in Costume Design). She has extensively worked in the industry as a costume maker and seamstress on theatre productions and music concerts for Hannah Kinkade Ltd (Beyoncé & Jay Z Run the World Part Two World Tour 2018 - London') and for Kenwright Ltd ( Cabaret 2018 UK Tour). She has extensive experience as Wardrobe Assistant for productions including The Book of Mormon (Sonia Friedman productions), Feast / Scottsboro Boys / Wild Swans / A Season in the Congo (Young Vic Theatre) and the 2014/15 Winter Season for the RSC ( Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon). Dressing credits include Disney's The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre, London) West Side Story - US International Tour 2013 (Sadlers Wells) and Romeo & Juliet (English National Ballet) She is currently working as Wardrobe Assistant on Guys & Dolls at London's Bridge Theatre. Romeo and Juliet (English National Ballet). Other credits include Costume Buyer (Royal Opera House), Costume Assistance (Almeida Theatre) and seamstress for Nicki Minaj World Tour 2019 at London's O2 Arena.
Simon Over, MA FRCO attended King Henry VIII School in...
Job Titles:
- Artistic Director
- Director
- Director and Writer
- Norwegian Director
Terje J Tveit is a Norwegian-Danish-British theatre director and writer. He trained at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, Honours; holds an MA in Comparative Literature (Litteraturvitenskap) from the University of Copenhagen and a BA in Theatre Studies (Teatervitenskap) from the University of Bergen, with additional studies in Latin and Classical Greek, University of Copenhagen. He has been the artistic director of the Ibsen Stage Company since its formation in 2000. Terje J Tveit's passion for the works of Henrik Ibsen is rooted in his trust in the material's psychological mechanics, which he believes are not served adequately by naturalistic theatre and a set period format. Terje J Tveit's work on Ibsen for Ibsen Stage Company seeks to explore alternative means of expression that paves the way for engaging and exciting theatre. He is currently developing the project Natter-Gal based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Nightingale together with composer Kaja Bjørntvedt. This autumn he is directing Ibsen Stage Company's co-production with Larvik Barokk Festival and Early Voices of Notes for a Requiem and Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas for Griegakademiet/UiS in Bergen/Stavanger.
Yana Valcheva holds an MA in Applied Arts (set design for puppet theatre) from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA) in Sofia, Bulgaria; achieving a First. Since graduating she has worked in both in theatre and puppet theatre designing sets, costume and puppets both in Bulgaria and in the UK. French surrealism, the absurd and mythology are of much influence in her playful and non-conventional work. She explores both the minimalist and the bold, in which visual symbols tend to highlight and emphasise the inner emotional world of the characters within a production.