U.S. Premiere of 'Sa Ka La' To Debut At Green Room 9/8

Oslo Elsewhere, now in its 4th season, will present the U.S. premiere of Jon Fosse's "SA KA LA," directed and translated by Sarah Cameron Sunde. "SA KA LA" will be presented at The Green Room / The Theatres at 45 Bleecker, 45 Bleecker Street (at Lafayette). Performances will begin on September 6, and the official Opening Night will be Monday, September 8 at 8:00 p.m. Performances will run through September 27.
 
"SA KA LA" takes place in a moment of crisis within a family when some of its members know a piece of bad news while the others have yet to hear about it. A mother has fallen victim to a stroke, on her 60th birthday, and it takes her three grown children, Nora, Hilde, and Ola completely by surprise. Meanwhile, the rest of the family can't be reached as they wait for her party to begin. Sa Ka La is not a Norwegian phrase. It's some of the unformed words the Mother makes after suffering her stroke. Director/translator Sunde says: "Sa Ka La represents a side of Mr. Fosse that American audiences have yet to see. This play is poignant and funny at the same time. It's about family dynamics and how quickly time flies. Mr. Fosse writes about something that everyone can relate to, which rounds out the body of work Oslo Elsewhere is creating in American-English, both in production and in published form."

Jon Fosse, Norway's preeminent playwright, is widely considered to be one of the world's greatest contemporary playwrights. He has also written novels, short stories, poetry, children's books, and essays. In France he has been awarded the National Order of Merit. This past June his novel Melancholia, adapted as an opera by composer Georg Friedrich Hass with libretto by Fosse, was presented by the Opéra National de Paris. This October Melancholia will premiere at the new Oslo Opera House. In 2004, Oslo Elsewhere presented Mr. Fosse for the first time in the U.S. with Ms. Sunde's translation of Night Sings Its Songs. In 2006 the company presented his play deathvariations on a double bill with Henrik Ibsen's Rosmersholm at 59E59 Theaters. Anita Gates wrote in the New York Times: "Mr. Fosse has been compared to Ibsen and to Beckett, and it is easy to see his work as Ibsen stripped down to its emotional essentials. But it is much more. For one thing, it has a fierce poetic simplicity." She also said: "The cast of deathvariations is sometimes stunningly in touch with Mr. Fosse's worldview. And no small credit goes to Sarah Cameron Sunde, who both translated and directed."

Sarah Cameron Sunde directed and translated the U.S. Premiere of Jon Fosse's Night Sings Its Songs at The Culture Project in 2004. This production marked the first time Mr. Fosse had been presented in the United States. Subsequently, in 2006, she directed and translated his deathvariations when it was presented at 59E59 Theaters in rep with Ibsen's Rosmersholm. At 59E59 she also directed the New York premiere of Brazilian playwright Nelson Rodrigues' 1960 play The Asphalt Kiss. She is the recipient of a Princess Grace Directing Award, and other credits include new work at theaters such as New Georges (where she also serves as Associate Artistic Director), Soho Rep, The New Harmony Project, The Cherry Lane, and Women's Project.
 
The nine-member cast will include: Noel Joseph Allain (Baal and Not a Jabberwock with Ontological-Hysteric Theater), Jacqueline Antaramian (B'way: Julius Caesar, directed by Daniel Sullivan; Lincoln Center's Pride's Crossing directed by Jack O'Brien; and New World Stages' The Immigrant, directed by Randall Myler), Mike Caban (Foundry Theatre's The Roaring Girle), Anna Gutto (with Oslo Elsewhere: Jon Fosse's Night Sings its Songs and Henrik Ibsen's Rosmersholm; The Workroom, directed by Moni Yakim at Manhattan Theatre Source), Frank Harts (B'way: A Raisin in the Sun), Marielle Heller (Soho Rep's Peninsula and Berkeley Rep's Continental Divide), Birgit Huppuch (Target Margin's Women of Trachis), Kathryn Kates (Expecting Isabel at The Barrow Group; Waxing West at La MaMa E.T.C.; and Hermanas at HERE) and Raymond McAnally (New Georges' and The Vineyard's God's Ear; Burial at Thebes at La Mama E.T.C.; Penalties & Interests, LAByrinth Barn Series).
 
The set design will be by Jo Winiarski (Stretch, a fantasia), the costume design by Jennifer Caprio (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), the lighting design by Paul Hudson (Actors Shakespeare Company of NJ), and the sound design by David Margolin Lawson (Sisters, Such Devoted Sisters at Studio Dante and Bartleby, The Scrivener at the Blue Heron). The production stage manager will be Ryan Raduechel.
 
Oslo Elsewhere (www.osloelsewhere.org) is dedicated to bridging the gap between contemporary American and Norwegian theater by bringing the most innovative plays and ideas from Norway to the United States and vice versa. Lisa Dozier serves as Executive Producer for Oslo Elsewhere and Christopher Taggart and Megan Janel Zimmer will serve as Associate Producers for "SA KA LA."
 
The complete schedule for "SA KA LA" (September 6 through 27) will be: Thursdays through Mondays at 8:00 p.m. Tickets will be $18.00. Students and seniors will be $15.00. The box office number for reservations is 212-239-6200 or www.telecharge.com.

Photo by Carol Rosegg

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