Circus Grønland is more than a theatrical performance; it is an event, a story about a city within a city. The largest country in all of Oslo. The audience wanders around and experiences song, dance, stories, and if you're extra lucky, you also get to see the bicycle thief's secret room, far below ground. An odyssey where everyone gets to experience something unique, and no one gets to experience everything. Welcome to Circus Greenland. 

Mikkel, Iulian, Sarah and Vera share their impressions and thoughts after seeing Circus Greenland with Helge, who has been their mentor during the Hedda Days. 

 For Mikkel, the show was both exciting and varied - "There was a lot of good music and funny parodies of real estate agents and developers." Iulian appreciated the outdoor aspect of the show "I thought it was very interesting, because the show was performed outdoors, not inside a theater" he explains. "You were active and moved around a lot in Greenland while following the actors." Sarah and Vera describe Circus Greenland as a unique, interesting and entertaining experience, although unfortunately they didn't get to see everything due to the large crowds and bad weather. 

When it came to what made the biggest impression, Mikkel particularly mentions the opening speech. "They emphasized how unique Grønland's environment is compared to other parts of Oslo." Iulian says he was fascinated by a part of the performance where a select few in the audience were given a yellow note telling them to follow the yellow arrows. He was one of the lucky ones and followed the arrows that led into a parking garage: "there an actor showed how they made music out of a bicycle that was connected to lots of equipment."

For Sarah and Vera, it was the music and costumes that really caught their attention. "What impressedus the most was the music and the costumes," they say. "That was the first thing that caught our attention. There was a lot of different live music, and the costumes were elaborate and fun."

But what was Circus Greenland about for them? 

For Mikkel, Sirkus Grønland was about showcasing the positive aspects of Greenland, a district that is often associated with negative events. "For me, Sirkus Grønland was about showcasing what's good about Grønland," he says. "A lot of people who live in Oslo hear a lot of bad things about events that happen there, and that's the only thing many people associate Greenland with. This show 'challenged' that a bit and showed that Grønland is a nice neighborhood with a lot of life and unique culture. For example, they put a lot of emphasis on fruit, as a recurring theme in the performance. Fruit - as a characteristic of Greenland." Sarah and Vera felt that Circus Greenland was about creating community and highlighting what Greenland is in a humorous way. 

Iulian, who didn't get to see the whole show because of the torrential rain, was left with an impression of Greenland as a chaotic but beautiful place. "What I'm left with is that Greenland is a very nice place to be. It's chaotic, but that's what makes it beautiful. There was also a scene with some business people talking about potential all the time, and I thought that there are probably a lot of companies that want to take over Greenland in some way. Make Greenland into something other than it is."

Three top photos: Maren Blomstereng
Two bottom photos: Young voices

Circus Greenland

Young voices saw the performance on Thursday, June 6 and Sunday, June 9 during Hedda Days 2024

Director, idea and project developer: Mine Nilay Yalcin
Costume and set designer and assistant director: Heidi Dalene
Composer: Brage Rognlien
Costume and set designer and assistant director: Madeleine F. Røseth
Technical director: Kai Fjell
Installation artist: Alf Ollett
Producer: Anja Olsson Kjærnli

Performers: Lisa Birkenes Thun, Sofia Knudsen Estifanos, Hina Zaidi, Madeleine F. Røseth, Ragnhild Blomstrøm, Amalie Sasha Schanke, Victor Kimathi Mathi, Taro Vestøl Cooper, Junaid Khan, Jawad Aziz, Kaleb Haile, Wael Jaohar, Manikrat Singh, Cesilie Geanina Jørgensen, Farqaleet Iqbal, Hanna Ocide Kidula, Anna Trindade Eriksen, Khadeeja Ahmed, Turid Rachel Bråten, Sunniva Mathe, April Notvik Kristiansen, Jules Akvama, Mobeen Shayan Ahmed and Akram khan Nasir.

Greenland Corps: Brage Rognlien, Lius Barusch, Maria Eva Orieta, Ole Magnus Næsbakken, Alexander Bosrup Karlsen and Ombeline Chardes

Sirkus Grønland is produced by Mine Nilay Yalcin in collaboration with Nordic Black Theatre and SPKRBOX.
The production is supported by The Norwegian Directorate for Culture, The Audio Visual Fund, Scheiblers legat, Nordic Black Theatre, Bergesenstiftelsen, Koro - Art in Public Space, Oslo Municipality, FFUK, Interkulturelt museum, Oslo teatersenter and Sparebankstiftelsen.

Photo: Maren Blomstereng