Opinions This is a debate post. The post expresses the writer’s views.
Spring gives us this wonderful light, which makes us see most things better and clearer.
Here the other day was the premiere of La Boheme – a Giacomo Puccini work we like to listen to. In Fredrikshald’s Theater – of course. People were overwhelmed by what they saw and heard.
A great many of the audience had come to us on an errand to experience the cultural city of Halden, the part of the city that we are not always so good at seeing. They were delighted with the artists’ efforts.
Even more excited were the people I spoke to that the city has something as wonderful as Fredrikshald’s Theatre. Same as what is listed here, I want to return here. I have to! That’s exactly what my Mosse friend said.
I understand her. The Empir-huset from 1838 houses a baroque stage with real sloping sides – and of such a variety that you will not find anywhere else in Norway. If you’re in the Theater for the first time, you’ll be hooked – and think like your friend: I want to go here again. For us it is a good observation – and it is a house and with a content we should all be proud of.
HA was good at making a report from this extraordinary cultural evening.
Just before, the sculptor Lise Amundsen had closed her eyes, aged 91. She was in every way an important person. As an artist she was marked. She expressed hope and energy in her sculptures.
Fortunately, several of her works can be found around the local community. Recently resigned mayor Anne-Kari Holm has cultivated and supported Halden’s cultural life in several ways. She worked hard for Lise Amundsen to have her own museum.
And the municipal council has actually decided that Halden will have a sculpture park with Lise’s work. But as of today, there is no money. And there are kind uncles in Halden too, but so far they keep their wallets close to their chests. It is allowed to contribute!
Without further ado, let us be happy that Lise Amundsen left her engaging work to our plots. Again, I have to praise HA for creating a lovely and broad obituary for the person of culture, Lise Amundsen.
It’s fun – and particularly important to our minds that we have a newspaper that not only reports on football, but also sees that art is an important part of Halden’s life. We want more about and from the Theater – and more about Halden’s artistic life.
Fredrikshald’s Theatre?
Then some readers will ask: Why this embrace of the Theatre. The reason is probably buried in an intense youth, where three productions under the auspices of Brageteatret meant that it did little for my personal development to sit quietly and look down at the floor.
Up on stage with you! There were three major roles in the plays Tre Små Negerbarn, Arsenikk og Gamle Kniplinger and I killed. And the fear disappeared.
As an adult and returning Haldense, after 30 years as a pressman in Oslo, I have again had the pleasure of playing on Fredrikshald Teater’s unique stage. First twice Holberg: In Jeppe på Berget, then in Den sundesløse – and finally in Ibsen’s En Folkefiende. These are wonderful experiences – and ones that last – a lifetime. Smallest!
