Theaterstück

The weird instrument gives the voices an extraterrestrial sound. Vibrato, distorted, sometimes high, sometimes low, sometimes old, sometimes young. The mothers, wives, schoolgirls and other female companions of a notable man have their say in this piece – in the form of a single actress.

»Theremin« tells of the life of the excellent but also ambivalent physicist and cellist Leon Theremin (born in St. Petersburg in 1896 as Lev Sergejewitch Termen, died in Moscow in 1993 at the age of 97). A century of Russian history, an existence between New York and Moscow, between captivity and espionage. Theremin invented the first electronic musical instrument of the world, which was initially called the aetherophone and later named after him. It produces sounds without being touched, simply by electronic vibrations caused by hand movements. Alfred Hitchcock used this sounds in his films and the abstraction of the generations and primarily the play of children have a similarly eerie effect.

Hotel Pro Forma is Denmark’s most important experimental theatre group. Kirsten Dehlholm, born in Vejle in 1945, founded the company in 1985 and is still its manager. Hotel Pro Forma sees itself as an interdisciplinary production area working with artists from various fields such as actors, composers and architects and has made guest appearances in numerous countries. The biggest pieces in recent years include »Calling Clavigo« (2002) and »I am only apparently dead« (2005), a work in conjunction with the Danish national choir and based on texts by Hans Christian Andersen.

»The performance in the well-known Hotel Pro Forma style, with slow movements and the perfect aesthetic style of almost clinical beauty, also includes a touch of nostalgia. An ode to remembrances, unique, fascinating« (Henrik Lyding, Jyllandsposten, Copenhagen, 11.03.2004).