1969 – True. Crime. Theatre.
Photo: Private
PENDRY / PETTERSEN
WORLD PREMIERE, Black Box Teater, 6.-14th December 2024
Ready for touring from February 2025
1969 – True. Crime. Theatre. is a play about crime and memory.
In January of 2024, Kate Pendry went to the police in London and reported an historic serious crime within her family. 1969 – True. Crime. Theatre. is about the police investigation that has now been opened into that crime. At its core the play investigates how unreported murder can impact family and relationships. When an artist shares close DNA with both a killer and his victim, the ripple effects can last for decades.
But 1969 – True. Crime. Theatre. is also about a European capital city in the late sixties. In a way it shows the ‘true’ version of that time, a version far removed from the mythic image of love and peace and weed and psychedelic rock and activism and social change. In reality, post war trauma, poverty, immigration and the catastrophe of mass drug use and addiction were the true pulse of what was in 1969 one of the poorest, seediest, and most chaotic areas of London: Notting Hill.
Notting Hill is now known almost exclusively for its ‘shopping’ ‘vibrancy’, ‘culture’ and a saccharine rom-com starring Hugh Grant. The truth is that the multi million-pound houses in that area were, not long ago, post-Victorian slums; damp and dank, home to a post-war flotsam and jetsam of folk on the edge of ‘decent’ society. There is blood in those walls.
As the police investigation has unfolded so has a family had to reckon with itself. True crime is clumsy and painful. It is not neat, like a Netflix documentary. There may never be an answer. Or perhaps the answer will not be the one we expect...
Kate Pendry and Mads Sjøgård Pettersen have previously collaborated on My Dinner with Putin. Both artists are the recipients of numerous awards for their theatre making.
Kate Pendry is a British-Norwegian actress, playwright and performance artist. Pendry has written and produced a number of plays such as Dead Diana and Pornography, several of which have been shown internationally. She has a reputation as a political and controversial artist due to the common thread of social commentary in her works, and the use of dark humor.
Mads Sjøgård Pettersen is a Norwegian actor and director. He is known for his versatile roles both on film and stage. Pettersen had his breakthrough with the role of Fredrik Kayser in the film Max Manus and has played in a number of successful productions.
Credits:
Playwright and actress: Kate Pendry
Director: Mads Sjøgård Pettersen
Music and composition: Audun Aschim
Producer: Camilla Svingen, Syv mil
Lighting design/ projection: Oscar Udbye
Costume: Anne Oortwijn
Dramaturgy: Mads Sjøgård Pettersen / Kate Pendry
Supported by:
Norwegian Art Council, Fund for sound and image, Fund for performing artists, Bergesenstiftelsen, Fritt Ord, Artists' Association and in collaboration with Co-producer Black Box Teater and Hamar Teater.
"Kate Pendry also demonstrates a broad range in the performance. When portraying family members, she is vulnerable, while as herself, she often exudes an infamous edge. This is a highly effective choice that ensures the play never becomes sentimental or self-righteous. Kate Pendry is truly one of our greatest performing artists."
Aftenposten, terningkast 5
Pendry elegantly demonstrates how complex it is to be a family. No one is ever just one thing - just a perpetrator, just a victim. The extraordinarily skilled storyteller Pendry creates entire neighborhoods with nothing but her voice, and the small stage at Black Box, with its steady narrative techniques and clever lighting, holds everything she needs.
"She uses a lot of dark humor and draws the audience into the performance with such ease. Her diction is impeccable, her writing is absolutely brilliant, and there’s a reason she’s previously won the Ibsen Award—she’s someone who can tell me anything, and I’ll listen. This performance is incredibly exciting!"
NRK Morgenradio, Karen Frøysland Nystøyl
"Kate Pendry is an actress with a unique mastery of the monologue format. She has complete control over the material and its delivery, and the combination of storytelling technique, theatrical devices, and the sense that something is at stake creates a truly distinctive aesthetic."
Klassekampen
"The distance, and perhaps also the entertainment effect provided by podcasts and TV, resonates much deeper in a theatrical production like this. In that sense, one could say that Pendry has succeeded in her mockery, embrace, exploration, and expansion of the genre."
Scenekunst.no
"Pendry has the ability to pull turns and does not lack the elegance of telling a good story so that it captivates. This time not with so much humour, but with a lot of distance and lightness."
Shakespeare Tidsskrift
"The performing artist Kate Pendry, who has a unique ability to bring incredible stories to the stage, also has a true crime story from her own life to share."