Scandinavian American Theater Company (SATC), the first-ever Scandinavian-American theater company in New York, was founded in 2009 by a group of New York-based Scandinavian theater professionals with the wish to introduce a new generation of Scandinavian playwrights to an American audience. SATC’s mission is to present high-quality, cutting-edge productions of contemporary Scandinavian plays and fresh interpretations of the Scandinavian classics, as well as to foster the Scandinavian-American performing arts community in New York.

In their Contemporary Scandinavian Reading Series, SATC presents five plays annually representing Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands).

Co-presented by the Consulate General of Denmark New York, the Consulate General of Finland in New York, the Consulate General of Iceland in New York, the Royal Norwegian Consulate General of New York, the Consulate General of Sweden in New York, and Scandinavia House.

National Test/Nasjonal prøve

Written by Maria Tryti Vennerød (Norway, 2011) & translated by Nick Norris. In a small community, students are waiting with sharpened pencils to take a national exam when they are threatened by a potential school massacre. Can it be the former student, Vidar, who plans to kill them all? No matter what, they are forced to take their exam.

Vennerød’s play is about fear and especially fear of the different and unknown. A dramaturgical collage, National Test is an energetic drama with snappy lines and a complex plot. The play premiered in 2011 at Rogaland Teater.

Featuring: Vigdis Hentze Olsen (Faroe Islands), Joey Mintz (US), Kristina Korsholm (Denmark), Andrew Vallins (US), Pangia Macri (Germany), Nick Brown (US), Karl Glusman (US), Flannery Spring-Robinson (US), Alexandra Gjerpen (Norway), Line Oestergaard Jeppesen (Denmark), Kwasi Osei (Denmark), Erik A. Schjerven (Norway)

About the playwright:

Maria Tryti Vennerød’s (Norwegian, b. 1978) first play More was produced at the Norwegian Drama Festival in 2002. Since then she has written ten plays that have been performed by different theaters and ensembles in Norway and Sweden. Writing with linguistic energy and a taste for tragedies caused by human folly and with a desire to combine humor, pain and politics, Vennerød is one of the strong, new dramatic voices in Norway today.

In 2005 she received the Ibsen Award for her play The Lady at the Counter. In 2003 Vennerød was awarded with the First Prize in a Swedish/Norwegian drama competition. Recently, Vennerød has written and directed two projects, one of them being the contemporary opera Heat for young people, composed by Julian Skar. These days she is back to the sole business of writing. In 2010 her play Neverland was produced by Det Norske Teatret, directed by Jon Tombre.

1306180800

1306180800

Photo by Tuukka Ervasti Millesgården

MON – 5-23-2011 – 8:00 PM
Pre-reception 7:30 pm/readings 8 pm
free