With great reviews in the New York Times and the Village Voice and sold out performances at the Urban Stages Theater, the Norwegian-American theatre group Wakka Wakka has captured the attention of the New York audience this winter!
3/7/2008 :: "Fabrik" continues the collaboration between Wakka Wakka and the Norwegian Consulate General in New York. In connection with the 2006 Ibsen-celebration the group produced the play The Death of Little Ibsen, which was invited to Oslo and the Ibsen Festival in 2006. The play received great critial acclaim as it toured Norway and the U.S. and the Consulate is proud to once again be a sponsor of a Wakka Wakka production!
Success and Rejection
The Legend of M. Rabinowitz” uses a combination of puppets and masks to tell the story of Polish Jew Moritz Rabinowitz who was sent to Norway and the small town of Haugesund to escape the pogroms in his native country. Through hard work Rabinowitz managed to become one of the leading clothing manufacturers in Norway, but because of their Jewish background, he and his family were kept outside the social scene of Haugesund. Mr. Rabinowitz was also a relentless voice alarming the public about the growing anti-Semitism in Europe, but in the end he, like so many of the Jews of Norway, fell victim to the Holocaust. He was sent off and died in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
No Children’s Tale
Some might think that the use of dolls and marionettes makes “Fabrik” a show aimed at children, but prospective audience should not be fooled by the use of puppets; this is not a light take on the Holocaust. Though the characters give us great laughs, a nightmarish, gloomy atmosphere is lurking under the surface, never letting the story become superficial. Llike the review in the New York Times said “The image of the puppet on its side, lifelessly staring downward, will haunt you.” The puppetry the group presents displays an impressive combination of design and craft, and Waage confirms that a lot of work is put down in forming the piece; "developing the characters, the story and creating the puppets takes close to two years before they are ready to be shown on stage.”
From Haugesund to New York
So how did the story of Mr. Rabinowitz end up on a stage on downtown Manhattan? Says Kirjan Waage, the Norwegian who constitutes for one third of the group: “Gabrielle, a group member and New York native is Jewish and has been wanting to create a play based on a Jewish story or theme. Growing up in Haugesund, I already knew the story of Mr. Rabinowitz, and as we looked at the story more closely, the universality of his experiences became increasingly clear. Despite his success, the infamous glass ceiling was limiting Rabinowitz’s development and you don’t have to look far to see the same thing today. Thus we felt that we could level with people across cultural backgrounds, be it in the big metropolis of New York or in a Norwegian fishing village.”
Future Plans
After touring Norwegian festivals with the play in 2007 the group has received massive attention, and the list of their schedule in 2008 is getting long. Wakka Wakka will also be a part of The Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs’ Year of Cultural Diversity in Norway, which means their “docu-fable” will be available for even more audiences in 2008.
Wakka Wakka’s previous New York performances includes Fatty and Skinny Show! and The Untold Story of Monkey, which ran for four weeks at the Tank in New York in 2004. Since March of 2005, they have held a monthly residency at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill with the family play Erik and the Amazing Shallaballah.
“Fabrik: The Legend of M. Rabinowitz” plays from January 17 through February 17, with the official opening night on Wednesday, January 23. Tickets are $25.00, students and seniors: $17.50. TDF vouchers accepted. Tickets for all performances are available at 212-352-3101 or online at www.theatermania.com.
When: January 17 through February 17
Where: Urban Stages Theater, 259 West 30th Street
Info: 212-352-3101 or www.wakkawakka.org
By Ellen Elisabeth Tveiten-Grotbæk