KLIP

A piece of tomfoolery from the void

"This work consists of carefully selected coincidences. Any form of intellectual or mental insight or anything which resembles cohesion is quite unintentional"

Who is the man in the pink G-string? What happens in the head of a chicken? How do you dance a meat advert? How long is a life lived from minute to minute? 

In KLIP we enter a world which has been carefully assembled from randomly-generated materials, fragments and phrases. We then witness this world being violently clipped to pieces in a unique form of live collage. Drawing inspiration from the Dadaists, Monty Python and others, LIVINGSTONES KABINET choose to embrace our fragmented state, throwing themselves into an experiment which has resulted in a new, unique form of performance collage. KLIP combines music, performance, song, sound, dance, poetry and object imagery with a bracing dose of surreal, nonsensical humour.

KLIP has been created through equal and mutually inspiring collaboration between all of the contributing artists: composer, director, choreographer, performers, designer, sound- and light-designer. The result is a tightly choreographed and exquisitely orchestrated descent to chaos which has reduced audiences to both laughter and tears. Funny, provocative, disturbing and visually inventive, with moments of great beauty, KLIP is an affecting and unforgettable live experience.

Awarded the Danish Arts Foundation (Stage Arts Committee) special prize in 2012

The Committee of the Foundation gave the following reasons for awarding the prize:

"With KLIP, the performing arts ensemble Livingstones Kabinet have demonstrated what an original and unique feature they are in the Danish theatre landscape.
They dare to break free from narrative structure, and to hurl themselves into a completely absurd Monty Pythonesque musical world, choreographed down to the finest detail, where we come to laugh at life's meaninglessness. This is a fully formed show, where music, dance, text and images are presented elegantly and very precisely by a cast under Nina Kareis' assured direction. Here is the proof that a process of "devising" rather than "thinking yourself" towards the end product can create work of deep originality when that process involves artists and performers who have a history of working together. Bravo."

Nominated for the Total Theatre Awards - Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 read review in Total Theatre

Press quotes:

"An extraordinary piece"  
Total Theatre (UK)

"Imagine what a piece of theatre would look like if David Lynch and David Byrne met in a pub then used a ouija board to channel the spirit of Samuel Beckett and Cabaret Voltaire." 
Mumble (UK)

"Ridiculously funny"  
The Herald (UK)

"SMOKED HAM - THE FLAG OF SOLITUDE!
KLIP...is so effectively removed from all semblance of reality that it can't help but be the truth... Ancient wisdom is cut and pasted to create a work of screaming incongruity... KLIP goes so far that it is painful to watch. It avoids being inconsequential or banal by serving as an uncomfortable reminder of something which we all too often, if only faintly, recognise from our own reality.... See it before your psychiatrist does." 
Arbejderen (DK)
The complete review (in Danish) can be found here

"Greatly entertaining from start to finish. Played with a glint in the eye and lots of humour... As to what the piece is actually about, I'd venture that there are as many different interpretations as there are spectators. So my recommendaton would be that you go in, see KLIP and make up your own mind!"  
Kulturkongen-blog (DK)

"I see this piece as solid evidence for why Mr. and Mrs Denmark do not visit theatres more often as it has very low commercial appeal." 
Kulturkongen-blog (DK) 

"It is as if all meaning is sucked out of the room and we are left with 4 performers who present us with fragmentary scraps of a life lived, unfolding in front of our eyes like a surreal dream. Recognisable elements seem to have been put in a blender, momentarily reappearing in new forms and hues, only to have lost all form and all hue a moment later. The result is like a cocktail which constantly changes flavour and colour, a drink in layers where each layer is separated yet bound together by the show's enormous humour and permeating musicality....like a piece of newly composed classical music in which everything normal and recognisable has been removed.
We are left in a world which has been pulled apart."
ms vennevig-blog (DK) 

On stage Pete Livingstone, Nina Kareis, Kristina Sørensen og Svend E. Kristensen
Director Nina Kareis
Set & Costume design Julie Forchhammer
Composer Pete Livingstone in collaboration with Erik Christoffersen
Choreography Adelaide Bentzon
Lighting Design Mikkel Jensen
Sound Design Erik Christoffersen
Dramaturgical Consultant Janne Katrine Noer Brøchner

PRESS PHOTOS

Download Poster Summerhall A3 (PDF)

Edinburgh Fringe Presserelease (PDF)

Duration: approx. 1 hour without interval.

KLIP premiered at Bådteatret, Copenhagen October–November 2012

KLIP was produced with support from The Danish Arts Council, Danmarks Nationalbanks Jubilæumsfond and the Music Committee of The Danish Arts Foundation.