As one of 120+ artists, I have contributed to the trilogy Satan’s Democracy, Satan’s Delirium and Satan’s Death; an immersive theatre and art manifestation re-imagining Michail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita; a continuous happening extended over three years and 3500 square metres… where my part was the making of a Passage Room on the third floor – neighbouring the Prime Minister’s bedroom and the gloomy home of the sweatshop workers, somewhere halfway between the uncanny Forest and the cursed flat of Woland.
Passage Room part 1: Satan’s Democracy (2015)
This is the beginning of the Passage Room; a former office space, where the copy machine and filing shelves got replaced with ashes, charcoal, rebars and drain pipes, tarpaulins and thick muffling felt… to become a labyrinth of transparent fabric, hidden spotlights and coloured shadows, with a floor of pitch-black sand. From one side accessible along tufts of dry reeds hanging from the roof; from the other through a narrow tunnel of red, airy silk.
Above: the Passage Room taking shape
Below: Into the Red
Blogpost: Meanwhile,
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Passage Room part 2: Satan’s Delirium (2016)
In the second part of the trilogy, the audience was drawn into the delirium of a ferocious Prosecutor left alone after the unhappy ending of Satan’s Democracy; a winding path was laid out through the three storeys of the scenography, and presented to the audience along with a three-course meal. As the 150+ rooms were blackened out – in order to be explored mainly by torchlight – the Passage Room was upgraded with mirror shards from the ceiling to the floor… but otherwise left more or less intact.
Details from the Passage Room in 2016; photo HHW.
Blogpost:
Back in the House of Nameless Storeys; part two, Satan’s delirium
Textile object Ullva (HHW.) and graffiti palimpsest by Andreas Blom;
photo HHW.
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Passage Room part 3: Satan’s Death (2017)
In preparation for Satan’s Death, all scenography got completely whitewashed – with the exception of a few hidden spaces, such as the Passage Room. Inside that pale limbo, only one actor remained: Woland/Angela Wand. In addition, four musicians were allocated in different parts of the building – but connected to each other over FM radio, and broadcasted live into the headphones offered to each visitor; dressed up in strange and beautiful costumes, in accordance with the dreamlike atmosphere, they performed a piece written for the occasion by composer Magnus Larsson. The audience were encouraged to take active part in exploring and transforming the settings – as were we, the artists.
Compost performance in the Passage Room;
photo credit: What Took You So Long
Adopting the basics of performance, I impersonated Lussi – the heathen Bride of the Winter Solstice – ambling slowly along the corridors; ending up in the living body of the compost, along with earthworms and a couple of tiny white spiders, offering visitors ripe fruits and warm soil.
Lussi/Compost performance;
photo credit Mia Malcyone
Passage Room compost and fungi in crystal shaped plexi container;
photo HHW.
Blogposts:
Satan’s Death
Passage Room@Satan’s Death (construction)
Passage Room@Satan’s Death (performance)
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video clips:
