Scenic realism

By Britta Timm Knudsen

Realism is not only a particular trend within the fields of literature and style which (like modernism) has its own particular formal and thematic features. It is also a more general term describing things which are lifelike. Using the former definition, realists often focus on conditions facing lower, more marginalised classes of society and the issues of everyday life in general. Using the latter definition, realism is linked to seeing things. In recent research into realism, the broader definition of the word is used as an important component in characterising realism; with perspective, point of view, description and spatial surface/depth respectively forming important aspects of style in literary realism. In other words, literature thus shares some of the characteristics of visual art – to some extent, the reader becomes an observer.

Neorealism
The neorealists in Danish literature, including Christian Kampmann, Anders Bodelsen and Henrik Stangerup, use point of view and perspective as important formal components of literary expression. Christian Kampmann’s neorealism is influenced by the conflict between (post)-modernism and subjective central perspectives in an interest in microsociological role play and games theory in general, as seen in Hans-Jørgen Nielsen’s texts. Kampmann allows his characters to act on various social stages, revealing secrets in various intimate spaces. These secrets may be of a sexual or social nature, such as veiled confessions to which the reader listens, or scenes which the reader observes. In Visse hensyn („Certain Considerations“), these revelations are not organised in the form of a grand finale as in classical naturalism, for instance (Emile Zola, Henrik Ibsen). Instead, they are displayed continuously to a limited number of listeners/observers.
These novels often contain a live presentation of events taking place here and now. This method of presentation creates a great sense of proximity to the reader, because the reader is a co-observer given easy insight into the thoughts of the characters in question. As soon as we are informed of a character’s version of the crux of an issue, the process of re-writing, omission and lies begins. The secrets that are revealed link the initiates to each other – most of them know something, but they never know the same things, and nobody knows everything. However, the confessions do not bring relief. Instead, the atmosphere of confidentiality leaves the reader with an insight into various intimate spaces without ever gaining a general overview.
In this brief article I should like to discuss a brand-new theatrical version of the first volume of Kampmann’s four-volume work on the recent history of the welfare state in Denmark from 1954-1974. The volumes Visse hensyn, Faste forhold („Regular Relationships“) Rene linjer („Clean Lines“) and Andre måder („Alternative Methods“) are clearly suited to the visual media. And indeed there is already a film version entitled Familien Gregersen („The Gregersen Family“). In addition, Århus Theatre will be working until 2008 on a stage version of the entire work.

Backstage is a stage, too
Christoffer Berdal’s production and Nina Flagstad’s set design are beautifully congenial to Kampmann’s neorealism, as well as expressing a new interpretation related directly to current theatrical conditions. In brief, it could be said that reality – if we adopt a theatrical perspective – is played out in scenes with varying degrees of visibility. Owing to these scenic conditions, which could be regarded as basic (post)-modernist conditions, we long even more for the real thing. This longing, this hunger for reality, can be seen in the desire to be involved backstage, to get behind the façade metaphorically speaking. And it is reflected in various current media and genres: in autobiographies, often based on a core of traumatic experience, in documentary films in which the film-maker turns the camera on himself or in which celebrities are portrayed in semi-official or private scenes, and in documentary programmes and reality shows on television in which the private lives of ordinary people (personal relationships, health, children etc.) are made public. Our longing for the real thing beyond the stage remains unfulfilled, but our insight into events behind the scenes produces new forms of stage performance and requires that we distinguish between various levels of visibility.
Various image projections play an important role in Visse hensyn. The only stage set is a large papier-mâché version of the impressive Gregersen family home. On the roof we can see pictures of various spaces and times: photographs of the street in front of the theatre, television advertisements and news reports from the 1950s, photographs of the actors on their way to the theatre, and photographs of events taking place in other rooms inside the house filmed with a hand-held camera by a visible cameraman dressed in black. This kind of production works with the neorealist shift in perspective, and as observers we start doubting the actual status of the scenes we are being shown – doubting their fictitious or documentary nature. The production thereby indicates that spaces and genres which we normally regard as being outside the fictitious space of the theatre (threshold rooms such as the main entrance and stage entrance, and the documentary genres) should also be regarded as parts of the production space.
Before the important final revelation, in which Tjumse tells the homosexual Bo that she has been his father’s mistress for years, the house set is turned elegantly. The scene is transformed into Tjumse’s bedroom – and we are also given insight into the backstage area of the theatre because large projectors and yards of cable suddenly become visible. The intimate revelation is coupled with metafictitious self-awareness.
The observer of Visse hensyn never gains a clear overview, but is offered a privileged glimpse from the wings of several simultaneous scenes. This view from the wings allows us access to differentiated role play, and time and space are condensed because several scenic rooms are visible simultaneously. The observer has many different positions: we may be a cannibalistic eye greedily devouring the revelations of others, a compassionate eyewitness, or reflective equals. And we experience various degrees of staging in the performances of the others.

Britta Timm Knudsen, PhD, associate professor in Culture and Media at the Scandinavian Institute, University of Aarhus.

Translated by Nick Wrigley