Musical Multi-Media-Mix-Performance

Several rooms allow a view into the lives of people, individually and running parallel, droll or tragic and both at once. Men are saying farewell for it is war, still going or yet once again. Here they are amongst themselves, carrying the pictures of their loved ones with them. The women dream of them and greet them after their return, whether their bodies are hale and hearty or hurt, even if all are burnt out within. These stories seem to be history, estranged in idyll yet shocking in reality.

What the Danish theatre company Teatret Cantabile 2 manages to put on the stage is a thrilling musical of the finest sort. The sincerely modest company itself does not use the concept of a »musical« and still proves through its profound humanity that this genre can mean something completely different than the somewhat witty »Cats« and an unspeakably painful »Miss Saigon«.

Teatret Cantabile 2 links up with the great era of serious musicals and seeks, after all – about 30 years have gone by since »The Man of La Mancha« and »Sorbas« –, for completely new stylistics. Surely the most important element is the impressive music by Marco Spallanzani who creates original, live-performed, sound forms with modern instruments and is quite willing to include catchy ditties. Texts by authors of various nationalities must be understood as a type of cenotaph for the unknown soldiers. Pre-recorded films, songs, dance and acting scenes turn this production into an unrestrained multi-media mix performance.

Teatret Cantabile 2 belongs amongst the most significant avant-gardistic Danish theatre groups. The company is directed by Italy’s Nullo Facchini, works since 1990 in Vordingborg and made guest appearances in countless European cities. »10 ukendte soldater« (»10 unknown soldiers«) is after »Snipers« and »Exile« (1995) the third and last part of a modern war trilogy and is a self-containing creation which can be shown separately and by itself. It resulted – as well as a modern »Hamlet« version for the premiere’s venue Helsingör – out of Copenhagen’s 1996 activities as Cultural Capital of Europa.