Welcome to Madame Silva´s wonderful, strange and macabre cabaret! Spectacular vignettes of life and death, edge of the seat humour, and a grand finale as Madame Silva looks her own fears in the eyes...a captivatingly spooky performance, scarily funny, and an audience on baited breath!
The tale of her origins fades into the darkness of time and the rich legends of her past are full of contradicting anecdotes. Some folk speak of a mystical, gathering place far out in the depths of Siberia in a remote village with winding cobblestone streets. Others speak of an abandoned ruined castle in Bretagne, the existence of which can be traced back to documented ancestry.
Timeless rumours point to origins hailing from the dark deep Norwegian forests and a few souls maintain a connection with the hereafter; most daring of all is the idea that she comes from an unknown continent on «the other side» …But all these legends amount to one thing: Madame Silva gives us the creeps!
Opera Opaque is a visual theatre production with actors and puppeteers, a life sized figure and shadow theatre. This puppet theatre is brought to you in cooperation with the French company Plexus Polar and the Norwegian director Yngvild Aspelie, who has also worked with the renowned theatre company Philip Genty.
Yngvild Aspeli is a director, actor and puppet maker educated at the Ecole Jacques Lecoq and Esnam (Ecole Nationale Superieur des Arts de la Marionnette) in Charleville-Mezieres (FR). In collaboration with the established artists and puppeteers Pierre Tual (FR) and Polina Borisova (RU), the composer Guro Skumsnes Moe (NO) and costume-designer Sylvia Denais (NO/FR) Aspeli has, since 2008 created visual theatre in which the relationship between actors and life sized figures is central. The productions "Signaler", "Opera Opaque" and "Aske" are all co-produced in Norway and France and tour internationally. The performance at the Arctic Arts Festival will be the 200th presentation by Opera Opaque.
This is a co-production with the touring organisation for Hedmark, Teater Innlandet and La Maison de Culture de Nevers. It is supported with funds by The Norwegian Arts Council, Fond for lyd og bilde, FFUK, Fritt Ord, Spenn.no, Hedmark Fylkeskommune and DRAC Bourgogne.