Underskog

ll the world’s a stage, And all the men and women
merely Players; They have their Exits and their
Entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts.
(Shakespeare, c. 1598-1600/1997:414)

The project Someone or Other is inspired by stories from the past, but addresses dilemmas at the heart of modern society: How should privacy be redefined in the age of surveillance? How should we deal with the blurring line between privacy and security? Are we willing to trade our liberty for security? What happens when fear campaigns push limits of privacy?

The starting point for this project is the former Ministry of State Security of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), commonly know as the Stasi. Representing one of the most intrusive surveillance networks in modern time, the Stasi sought to infiltrate personal life to collect information about people, what they did and what they said, in order to identify potential threats. However, today mass surveillance systems have yet again become part of our economic, political and social lives. Everything that we once projected onto the Stasi seems to be accepted in states with strong democratic and anti-totalitarian traditions.

Playwright: M. H. Hallum
Director: Øystein S. Johansen
Dramaturge: Jonas Rutgeerts
Set designer: Juul Dekker
Musician & Composer: Hans Kristen Hyrve
Production: Bunnyhead prod
Performers: Marius Mensink, Nina Fokker, Joep Hendrikx, Eva Kijlstra
Co-producers: Generale Oost (NL), Black Box Theatre (NO), Dramatikkens Hus (NO), School van Gaasbeek (BE)
Supported by: Norsk Kulturråd|arts council Norway, Fritt ord, Stiftelsen ord og form (research), Willy Brandt stiftelsen (research)