Cuckoo King

The Cuckoo King is a musical journey through the life of a lonely and different cuckoo king. The birds are represented by the hats worn by Andrea Rydin Berge and Sebastian Haugen-Markussen. The small exception to this is Knupp and Dupp, who are just two teddy bears. The cuckoo chick is criticized as soon as it hatches; "You're too big!" is shouted at it. The cuckoo chick doesn't sing beautifully like its siblings, Knupp and Dupp. In one of the many songs, Cuckoo King sings "I'm tired, I'm tired, I'm tired." This is probably because it's always being talked down to and made to feel that it's not normal or good enough. Mummy and Daddy Cuckoo compare Cuckoo Clock to other birds, one example is when they say it's tired when it tries to sing. But Cuckoo King doesn't understand how it can be seagull-like, as it has no white feathers? It's also called noisy, but it doesn't understand what that is. Eventually, Cuckoo King leaves the nest in search of understanding what he really is, on this journey he meets a woodpecker and an owl. The owl hoots sadly and says "Oh, if I could have seen, I would love to see a cuckoo. But I have no sight, so the cuckoo would have to be magic." This gets the Cuckoo King thinking, as he doesn't seem to realize that he himself is a cuckoo. After a while, it rolls its eyes at the owl, and it turns out that the owl had only had its eyes closed the whole time. "Oh, you're a magical cuckoo!" says the owl gleefully. This makes Cuckoo King especially happy, as he realizes that an old and wise owl himself says that he is actually a cuckoo. After this, winter begins to set in and Cuckoo King does what all other cuckoos do, he heads south. It travels down to the warm African savannah. Here it sees lions and elephants, and even giraffes dancing. This is not what animals normally do, and so the little (big) Cuckoo King realizes that it's okay not to be like everyone else.

By Sandra Aadalen

Photo: Øyvind Warp