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Preview: Lars Sorken, A Norwiegan Noir

Lars Sorken, director Ed Bell solemnly informed me at the beginning of this press preview, is a Norwegian theatre academic who uses his theatrical nous to solve mysteries. A dead body lies sprawled across the stage as I enter, and the director debates with his cast whether or not they ought to use the “sex harness” in the preview.  I confess, I saw about twenty minutes of the play, and despite having the basic plotline explained, I spent many of those minutes rather bewildered, which really, is only right and apt: the play markets itself as a classic Noir piece, “searching for a truth when there may not be any”. The writer was clearly heavily inspired by the filmic genre, and several classic Noir elements have been retained, from the accompanying music to the use of several stock characters that wouldn’t be out of place on the silver screen.

The actors were generally well cast, and though the production occasionally strayed into the realms of the unpolished, I am sure the majority of small qualms I had will be resolved by opening night. Dan Draper as Lars Sorken was a delight, and exhibited a real commitment to his characterization. Watching Lars swan about the stage winding up the rest of the cast, in a most cutting, disparaging manner was enjoyable, and even his mumbled asides in Norwegian, which had the potential to be rather cringe inducing, were nicely pulled off.  Chemistry was good with seductress Sofie Heller (Carolin Kreuzer), the perfect noir leading lady. Antti Lane’s Andrew Guardian also did a good job, and with his conniving and snarling demeanor, was among the most enjoyable of the cast to watch.

While most of the excerpt that I witnessed, corpse aside, was rather light hearted, I am informed that the play will get darker, which I hope will mean more of the excellent black humor that I witnessed at the preview. The monochrome set and costumes, with the occasional flash of colour, as well as the continued rehearsal of what is already a very slick, impressive piece of theatre will no doubt ensure that Lars Sorken: A Norwegian Noir is something rather special. I guarantee at least that it will be very different to anything else you see at Oxford, which is surely reason enough sit back and enjoy this striking, rather strange play.

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