"Operation Opera. The First Polish-Norwegian Cabaret" is an international artistic project implemented by the KTO Theatre in Krakow and the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo within the framework of the Cultural Exchange Fund with the support of the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.
The aim of the project is to create a cultural dialogue between Poland and Norway through a collaboration of artists from the two countries in the field of performance art combining cabaret, opera and theatre. The main themes of the production are focused on political and cultural relations, stereotypes and prejudice. The last was confirmed in the Spring of 2007, during the implementation of the most prestigious architectural project in Norway – the construction of the building of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo.
That’s how it all started
Observation of the group of Polish builders employed on the construction site was a great source of material and literary themes for the Polish-Norwegian writer (and the Oslo University professor) Nina Witoszek FitzPatrick. She interviewed a number of Polish and Norwegian builders, engineers and architects. While many Norwegian informants, including representatives of the government, emphasized a vital role played by the Polish labour in the construction of the Opera, the mutual cultural misrepresentations were inspiring enough to form the background for a novella published in Oslo in 2008 under the title "The Opera for 130 Kroner". This publication inspired one of the leading Norwegian contemporary composers of classical and jazz music Helge Iberg, who is a great fan the European art of cabaret, and also the Norwegian-American comedian and performer David Chocron to make their creative contributions and this is how the idea of this unique piece of theatre devoted to the clash of two cultures came into being...
The main aim of the project was to create a performance on the basis of a cabaret framed in the artistic means of theatre and opera and to present it to the Polish and Norwegian audiences in Krakow and in Oslo. The show is performed in the Polish-English-Norwegian version.