Death to the Welfare State: An Exposition on Political Discourse and Artistic Collaboration

Kent G R Olofsson

Död åt välfärdsstaten (Death to the Welfare State) was a theatre performance for actors, dancers, and musicians that dealt with a concern that the welfare system in Sweden was about to be dismantled. To explore this worry political speeches were superimposed with a narrative inspired by George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm to examine how perceptions of welfare in Sweden have changed from the early 1900s to the present. This artistic research exposition elaborates on the process of developing the theatre piece. It unpacks how the relation between discourse and narrative informed the text and music, and how it allowed for a dramaturgical structure that included all the various performative elements and artistic expressions. Furthermore, the exposition discusses how the performance was composed through a collaboration that was characterised by an open-ended dialogue between the artists and how this enabled distributed decision making, as well as artists performing in other ways than they are used to. The exposition explores the open format of Research Catalogue. Through text and video documentation it builds on the dramaturgical structure of the performance itself: an introduction, five parts and an epilogue. The ambition of the exposition has been to make yet another iteration of the performance.

Table of contents:

Abstract

Introduction: A Concern for the Welfare System

I. From Discourse to Narrative

II. Juxtaposing Temporal Structures

III. The Script as Event Score

IV. The Dramaturgical Function of the Music

V. Circulating the Artistic Decision Making

Epilogue: Death to The Welfare State

About the authors / References

Documentation

About the Authors

We have been working together for almost fifteen years and during that time we have made more than thirty productions. The first production we did combined music and theatre into the staged hörspiel Indy 500: Seklernas udde (2009). Already in this early work, we co-created the concept. This was done through a process-based approach to writing and composing. It might be worth mentioning that our productions have not been devised or created through any similar forms of participatory methods; the productions have started from a specific theme that we have decided to explore. From this, a written text, a musical composition and ideas on how to stage the performance have been added. After an initial conceptualisation we have invited actors, musicians and other artists into a joint exploration of the theme. This was also how Indy 500: Seklernas udde was created: we started with some ideas on the themes of the performance, and a few pages with text that proposed how these themes could be addressed. This was discussed between the two of us and then a decision was taken on how to proceed artistically. Together we decided which part in the text would come first and decided on a dramaturgical structure that provided material for the compositional work. Also, instead of writing a traditional score and having that as a musical starting point, the recording studio was used to explore the temporalities of the text and the reading, which allowed the actors and musicians to be on the same page when starting the rehearsals.

The work later formed into the starting point of an artistic research endeavour. Our focus doing research has been on how to combine situated acting, music-making, and technology into intermedial performances. Through the artistic practice, followed by joint discussions and analysis, artistic methods were developed to approach and do collaborative work. To achieve this, a common understanding of how to explore the themes addressed in the performances has been communicated and shared with everyone involved through shared physical, conceptual and communicative spaces. The methods presented in this exposition further adds to this understanding.

Jörgen Dahlqvist is a PhD Student At The Malmö Theater Academy

Kent Olofsson is Professor of Performing Arts for the profile area Concept and Composition at Stockholm University of the Arts.

References

Andrews, M. (ed.) (2000). Lines of narrative. psychosocial perspectives. London: Routledge.

Chakrabortty, A. (2013). ‘The Welfare State, 1942-2013, obituary’. The Guardian, Accessed from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/08/welfare-state-1942-2013-obituary, 27 November, 2022

Dahlqvist, J. (2018). Död åt välfärdsstaten. Theatre Script, unpublished.

Dahlqvist, J. & Olofsson, K. (2018). Död åt välfärdsstaten. Theatre performance

–– (2018). Indy500: seklernas udde. Music theatre performance

–– (2017). ‘Shared spaces: Artistic methods for collaborative works’, Studies in Musical Theatre, 11:2, pp. 119–129, doi:10.1386/smt.11.2.119_1

–– ’Strategies for Creative Agency in Performing Arts’, in print

Malmö Stadsteater (2018) ‘Vinnaren tar allt. Malmö Stadsteater, Accessed from https://www.malmostadsteater.se/arkiv/t-hipp-1718/vinnaren-tar-allt, November 27, 2022

Olofsson, Kent. Composing the performance: An exploration of musical composition as a dramaturgical strategy in contemporary intermedial theatre. Diss. Lund : Lunds universitet, Lund, 2018

Orwell, G. (2010[1945]). Animal farm: a fairy story. (Authoritative edition.) London: Harvill Secker.

Palme, O. (1982). ‘Därför är jag en demokratisk socialist’.

Accessed from https://www.talarpoolen.se/olof-palme-darfor-ar-jag-demokratisk-socialist/,

Richter, D (2017) ‘Medborgarbandet - blandning av politisk kabaré och konst’, Sveriges Radio, accessed from https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/6797175, 27 November, 2022

Riksteatern (2018). ‘Sång till välfärden. Riksteatern.

Accessed from https://www.riksteatern.se/forestallningar/sang-till-valfarden/, 27 November, 2022

Reinfeldt, F (1993). Det sovande folket, accessed from

https://ia904501.us.archive.org/22/items/detsovandefolket/fredrik_reinfeldt_-_det_sovande_folket_1993.pdf, 29 November, 2022

Ryan, M. (ed.) (2004). Narrative across media: the languages of storytelling. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Samuelson, R.J. (2010) ‘The Euro And The Death of the Welfare State’, Newsweek, May 5, 2010,

Accessed from https://www.newsweek.com/euro-and-death-welfare-state-72697, 27 November, 2022

Personal correspondence from Jörgen Dahlqvist to Lidia Wos and Kent Olofsson, 15 February, 2018

Personal correspondence from Jörgen Dahlqvist to Lidia Wos and Kent Olofsson, 11 March, 2018

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