Espen Hjort

The video of Happy Together will appear here soon.

Happy Together had its premiere in the beginning of march 2020. After two shows, the theatres were shut down due to the world-wide pandemic. The tour was resumed in september 2020, and finishes in december this year.

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In the context of lockdowns and social distancing, it felt very meaningful to present this work about family and intimacy. Happy Together is a physical, playful work about family, performed by and created with a 'real' family: parents Erik and Nanette, and their children Mees and Ster.

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In scene after scene, the family searches for the essence of family, and tries to figure out who they want to be together. The practice the art of the farewell, they wonder about their family history, the perform intimate duets and dance to a certain song from the 60s. At the same time, the show is about the show: a family trying to figure out how to put on a show, in every meaning of this phrase. Happy Together is about care, about carrying (and being carried) and about collective identities.

CREDITS

Concept: Espen Hjort en Mees Borgman

Performance: Erik Borgman, Nanette Kuijpers, Mees Borgman en Ster Borgman

Direction: Espen Hjort

Stage design: Johanna Dahlbäck

Music: Marko Ivic

Dramaturgy: Selm Wenselaers

Production: Pauline Otten

Techniek: Wout Jansen, Tim Kockx

Finances managed by: Koosje Laan

Publicity: Nikla Katsburg

Graphic design: Lucas van Hapert

Photography: Bart Grietens

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Happy Together is produced by Espen Hjort/Stichting Skorpetind and Het Huis Utrecht in collaboration wi met Theater Utrecht, and with the generous support of the Dutch Performing Arts Fund, Fentener van Vlissingen Fonds, the City of Utrecht, Stichting Melanie. Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and Stichting Dioraphte.