A sitcom on stage

The Spanish Fly is a three-hour performance that doesn't feel that long at all. The hours fly by because of the good humor and storytelling.

I had never heard of The Spanish Fly before I walked into the theater. I had imagined some boring “fine art” when I heard that name. BOOM . The first thing I see is a big pink logo on the curtain. BOOM . Fun music. BOOM . The show starts with a classic TV series intro playing as an introduction to each of the characters. I get chills all over my body. You would almost think you were watching an episode of Hotel Caesar. Without even meeting the characters or seeing the set design, you already feel at home. I began to wonder if this was going to be my new family for the next three hours. It immediately went “click” as Emma Klinke started walking down the stairs like a drunken lady babbling about politics to a camera crew, a youthful girl, Paula Klinke, who of course only talked about boys to her “ugly” friend: Betty Løvberg, and lots of businessmen who talked “formidably” but didn’t seem to really understand what they were doing. 

The classic is back

The Spanish Fly is originally a German production written by Franz Arnold and Ernst Bach from 1913. It has been staged several times here in Norway. The first time at the National Theatre in 1915. The most famous production in Norway was at the ABC Theatre in 1989, and was later recorded as a Christmas tradition by NRK in 1990. The modern version of the performance is directed by Mads Bones who has set the plot in a reality and “happy Christian” 1990s. The story they tell is that Ludvig Klinke has a dark secret that he has made a woman, The Spanish Fly, pregnant. The only question is whether Klinke is the only possible father in this story? In addition, Emma Klinke invites Henrik Meisel to their home to propose to their daughter. Ludvig does not know anything about this, and he therefore believes that Henrik is his son.

The retirement home's special department

The characters are introduced in the intro movie, and there were a lot of old men. I usually struggle to remember who is who when everyone looks so much the same (something older people do), but here the characters had such exaggerated and clear personalities that it wasn't difficult at all. They were sooo weird, but it just helped me cheer for everyone. Everyone had something funny to say and do. Especially the musical numbers they had, they weren't exactly the greatest musical songs and performances you've ever seen, but they're definitely up there with the most entertaining ones in terms of the way they entered the play. When you see old men staring at everyone and suddenly starting to sing and dance, it feels really weird, but it was extremely fun to watch.

Talk to me.

Each of the characters is played with different catchphrases that define their character.

Emma Klinke – “ Talk to me ”

Ludvig Klinke – “ Mustard ”

Henrik Meisel – “ DAD ”

Etc…

Usually when I go to the theatre I notice that this is something that the audience quickly gets tired of. Fun the first three times, then we're done. But here it was almost as if this was the main attraction. It looks boring in writing, but hear the amazing actors say it, and you'll feel it tingle all over your body. This was pure magic!

Pee, poop and fart

In recent years, when I've been watching comedy shows like The Worst Audience in the World , LOL: The Last to Laugh and Ikke lov å le på hytta , I've noticed a lot of the same humor: Sex, farts and poop. It's something that clearly makes all of Norway laugh, but I've actually started to get a little tired of it. This has made me reflect a lot on whether daytime humor has started to die out, because everything has been used up. Then the Klinke family came on stage, they babbled and babbled, but you'd almost think I was a kindergarten child, because I was sitting there giggling at the whole thing. Yes, there may be a lot of poop, pee and farts involved here too, but when the build-up to the jokes is, for example, an overweight man with a beard in a baby costume, it becomes difficult to hold back the laughter. It was almost difficult to follow the whole action. Behind me I heard two men who couldn't hold back. On the other side of the hall you could hear an elderly lady laughing her ass off. There wasn't a single dead face in the audience. Everyone who wasn't laughing out loud sounded like balloons having the air squeezed out of them. It was a bit like being inside a beehive. 

That was a hell of a long time, wasn't it???

The show has a running time of 3 hours + intermission. When I heard that, I sat there and thought, ugh, this is going to be too long. We live in a society where almost every household has TikTok and is used to new entertainment to scroll to. But no, when the intermission came, I didn't think half an hour had even passed. It flew by. I think it's sad because most of our brains, including mine, have evolved to be very impatient, so when the show manages to put all that time aside, then they've done something right. There was a little girl who was with her mom and grandma in the row in front of me, she didn't look down at her phone once. Those eyes were glued hard to the stage. 

A light but advanced story

This article is written in the same way I interpreted the play. You may notice that I quickly threw you into the text and bombarded you with references, bragging and many small paragraphs. That's exactly how the whole performance was. The play starts with a lot of references that you don't really understand. For example, when they talk about the whole backstory of Ludvig's mustard company, or Paula's love interests. It was also very difficult to understand the main problem in the play, all the men who thought that the child of the Spanish Fly was their own. It made my brain a little buzz to understand, but at the same time it still feels right. It feels like you already know them and that they exist from before the play starts. All the characters brag a lot about themselves. Me, me and only me. Which means that everyone gets a spotlight when they come on stage. And short scenes with a lot of information. The story is told through the lines. At one point I didn't understand who had done what, but when all the answers came out at the end, I just had to slap myself on the forehead, because then I understood everything. 

Our beautiful National Theatre

Here in Norway we have a very nice train station called Nationaltheatret. Named after Norway's main stage that opened its doors for the first time on September 1, 1889. When you walk around the Nationaltheatret you notice that great artists have worked hard to make it as perfect as possible. It's a very nice place to be, but The Spanish Fly 's set design and lighting stole the show . I didn't think about which building I was sitting in for a moment, I was visiting the large villa of the Klinke family, I. Sat on a nice sofa and played in extremely nice stairs, doors and a soda machine used in very creative ways. I scratched my head, because I couldn't understand how they had rigged up that set design. It also matched really well with the warm light, reminded me of Christmas Eve when it's dark outside with lots of warm lights inside. Really cozy. 

DJ Gjøstøl

At the top of the stairs sat musician Ole Gjøstøl with an organ. And that was it. The music he played was very reminiscent of some type of classical music mixed with sitcom and a bit of hip hop. Simply a mix you have most likely never heard before. So you can use this as an excuse to go and watch. The music is worth it alone, if Ole Gjøstøl ever arranges a Den spanske flye concert I would love to come.

Spoilers may follow

I had a pretty clear idea of ​​where I wanted to end this review. Theater-interested or not, everyone can get something out of this show. A good evening with family members, good friends. Maybe even a date? It will at least remove all the pettiness you are afraid of, because you will have so much to talk about when it is over. Theater shows like this give me more hope for being able to normalize theater more among the younger generation. When even cinemas are starting to struggle financially, it is very refreshing to see so many people come and enjoy the same thing as you. This show creates a community among all ages and personalities, because everyone is represented and understood. The old characters show their emotions that are easy for a young person to understand, the young show emotions in a way that is easy for older people to understand. This is what I think is so great about a comic farce. It becomes so much easier for any person to follow, no matter what kind of concentration they struggle with. They create a good mix between seriousness and humor. Betty and Henrik are the saddest characters, but they also manage to be the funniest. If this had been an exam paper and I had been the student's teacher, I would have given this student an A.