Review: KRISTIN LAVRANSDATTER at Akershus Festning / Karpedammen

There is much to love about this show. While this is an epic set in 14th century Norway, a lot of what is depicted rings just as true today. Choosing who to love, the bonds family holds, love, hope and despair. It's all there. While this musical is far from perfect, it has beautiful melodies and lyrics, while the book struggles as it has so much story to tell, and never really allows for time to breathe. But all in all it has enough going for it that the end result is really pleasing.

The musical KRISTIN LAVRANDSDATTER is based on the Nobel prize winning author Sigrid Undset's trilogy of books The Wreath (1920), The Wife (1921) and The Cross (1922). To summarize the plot in a short way is hard. The cycle follows the life of Kristin Lavransdatter, a fictitious Norwegian woman living in the 14th century. Kristin (Herborg Kråkevik) grows up in Gudbrandsdalen, a rural part of Norway. She is the daughter of a well-respected and well-off farmer Lavrans (Erik Wenberg Jacobsen) and mother Ragnfrid (Eli Stålhand). Despite being betrothed to a neighboring landowner's son, Simon Darre (Lasse Vermli), Kristin falls in love with Erlend Nikulaussøn (Hans Marius Hoff Mittet) who has been excommunicated by the Catholic Church for openly cohabitating with Eline (Katrine Lunde Mackenzie), a woman who was already married. And this is only the first 40 minutes in ... Trust me ... there will be love, passion, betrayal and drama as the evening ensues...

Composer (and singer) Julian Berntzen has written an epic melodic score. It very Norwegian in its core, and is rooted in classical mixed with popular music. It never really challenges the listener, but I feel that was not the intent here since the story is very heavy, so it is good to have a counterpoint to that. The lyrics written by Brit Bildøen (in nynorsk) are very poetic and sounds very natural, with beautiful rhymes.

Herborg Kråkevik was born to play this part. She encompasses both the naivety and wisdom that the part requires. She gets to display her vocal range, which is impressing. Especially her "eleven o'clock number" called "Kjærleiken" (The Love) is very heartbreaking. However it is not a thankful job for an actor to have that many power-ballads more or less in a row. Especially during the first half they became somewhat repetitive, and slowed the plot down. However Kråkevik shows a dedication to the source material that is impressive and inspiring.

Hans Marius Hoff Mittet as Erlend is likewise a joy to witness. He makes you care about the character even though Erlend is "troubled" to put it mildly. It is not easy to feel sympathy for his actions, and Erlend is aware of his faults as he sings "Kven er eg?" (Who am I), brilliantly I might add. Those high notes is to die for!

Erik Wenberg Jacobsen and Eli Stålhand as Kristin's mother and father are both strong and vibrant. I would have wished for them to have a duet in the scene where they discuss their own relationship. I feel Jacobsen was a bit underused, musically. Stålhand does multiple parts but they have all an maternal feel to them, and she has a real forceful presence.

Of the male actors the one who comes across most likable is Lasse Vermli as Simon Barre. Vermli is equally strong both acting and singing, and his final song before he dies is really touching.

Andre Søfteland, who also plays multiple parts (but mainly the priest, Sira Eirik) has a looming presence, and nobody "looms" quite as well as Søfteland, with his very loud classical voice, both in speech and song. His son Bentein, played by Mattis Johannessen is equally booming and nasty, and he also does multiple parts throughout the evening. One of the more touching musical moments during the first act was Arne, played by Thomas Urnes, who sings about his unrequited love for Kristin. A beautiful moment indeed. Special mention must also go Katrine Lunde Mackenzie who plays the more fiery female parts throughout.

This is an epic drama that suits being turned into musical theatre, although the presentation could have been suited by some reshaping. Instead of a direct forward narrative following the basic plot of the books it would have been beneficial to have Kristin telling the story from her perspective since so much of what is sung is done by her. The way it is presented now it moves from one event to the next in such rapid speed that we never really get to time let things sink in. While the musical is at times gripping (especially the music and lyrics), people who have no knowledge of the books will most likely have to concentrate to keep up. But this work has real potential to go from being merely good to become truly great. I did not get to see the musical presented on stage back in 2018. This production is presented outdoors with the beautiful Akershus Fortress as a backdrop with the large stage floor built across a big pond, with the full orchestra on stage, if you add an ensemble of about 40 it cab be a bit crowded at times. And with such a large cast it is crucial, to have a tight direction. Director (and playwright) Svein Sturla Hungnes does a commendable job when the scenes are vast and beautiful, but with such a long distance between the actors and the audience, a lot of the minor (but important) moments gets lost, and with the the narrative traveling in record speed those moments should have been paid more attention to. The sound design for the orchestra was beautiful, full of depth and clarity. Forsvarets stabsmusikkorps, led by conductor Petter Sørlie Kragstad, sounded remarkable. Hans Einar Apelland's orchestrations really suited the piece. The actors' microphones had too much reverb during singing, so it was hard to hear a lot of the lyrics at times. This was mostly noticable during numbers with many performers. The lighting design was amazing and as it grew darker they really added another layer to the overall impression.

On the whole, Kristin Lavransdatter was a very pleasing experience. It felt at times like a speed-date with the material, but with that much story to tell it's hard to see how it couldn't be. Det norske teatret will perform their own version of Kristin Lavransdatter over the course of three nights, just to put it into perspective how much story there is to tell, and their version ends with her dying of the black plague. Thankfully the musical didn't.

Production photos by Mette Amblie Haugland

To post a comment, you must register and login.