June 28–29, 2022

Story, story, die.

winter guests

Norway

This piece looks at the relationship between lies and love and the surprising things we do in our everyday lives to present a more likeable narrative of ourselves to the world.

Photo by Mats Bäcker

Nordic Spotlight, part of Nordic Bridges

This event is a Nordic Spotlight, part of Nordic Bridges.

Overview

Alan Lucien Øyen and his company winter guests tell stories of the contemporary world. Drawing from real-life experiences, his innovative multi-disciplinary works of dance and theatre have gained critical acclaim and an international following.

His newest work Story, story, die. is no exception. With a cast of seven extraordinary dancers and using visceral choreography and text, this piece looks at the interdependency between lies and love and the things we do to be liked. Exploring how we are constantly rearranging everyday life, whether in the “real” world or imagined, it speaks to how we lie about ourselves to create a more desirable reality for each other.

View Show Program

Alan Lucien Øyen and winter guests

winter guests, based in Norway, is comprised of international performers in different constellations. winter guests uniquely creates a range of pure theatre works, dance and hybrid pieces mixing dance with text and movement with actors – all layered with a cinematic overtone enriched by stunning singular scenography.

The works source material from interactions with strangers, personal anecdotes and pop culture references – always incorporating the performers and the rehearsal process in shaping the final narrative. With strong elements of meta theatre, winter guests overlay the company’s own reality into the subject matter to create rich and eccentric performances in a constantly shifting format.

In 2014, their most renowned play Coelancanth won the HEDDA award: the most distinguished award for theatre in Norway, in the category Best-Written stage-play. At an epic 5½ hours in length, this piece also earned nominations for Best Play and Best Director.

Presenting their avant-garde theatre and dance in both independent venues and opera houses, winter guests has toured in over 20 countries for performances and residencies at places such as The Watermill Center, New York Theatre Workshop, Théâtre National de Chaillot, Banff Centre for the Arts, Shizuoka Performing Arts Center, The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Harbourfront Centre, among others.

Lucien Øyen also creates commissions and has been an in-house choreographer for the Norwegian Opera and Ballet since 2013. In 2018, he was one of the first two choreographers commissioned to create a piece for Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, alongside Dimitri Papaioannou.

Lucien Øyen is currently involved with commissions and new creations for 2020/2021, including works for Paris Opera, Opera Flanders and Staatsoper Berlin, among others.

winter guests is embarking on several large-scale international co-commissioned works in Asia and North America with The National Theater Concert Hall, Taiwan, and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.