Wakka Wakka’s
Dead as a Dodo
Norway/USA
A co-production with Nordland Visual Theatre, Nord Universitet and The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival
CREATIVE TEAM:
Written by: Gwendolyn Warnock & Kirjan Waage
with help from the ensemble (note: should be smaller than Kirjan & Gwen’s names)
Directed by: Gwendolyn Warnock and Kirjan Waage
Original Music & Sound Design: Thor Gunnar Thorvaldsson
Puppet Design & Construction: Kirjan Waage
Projection Design: Erato Tzavara
Lighting Design: Daphne Agosin
Touring Lighting Design: Scott Monnin
Set Design, Costume Design: Gwendolyn Warnock & Kirjan Waage
Ensemble: Lei Lei Bavoil, Alexandra Bråss,
Hanna Magrete Muir, Sigurd Rosenberg, Peter Russo, Anna Soland, Kirjan Waage, Mairead Kohler, Olivia Zerphy, Thea Lekang
Producers: Gwendolyn Warnock, Thomas Gustafson & Kirjan Waage
Associate Lighting Design: Gillian Hanemayer
Props and Additional Puppet Construction: Lei-Lei Bavoil, Alexandra Bråss, Frida Vige Helle, Dorothy James, Andy Manjuck, Hanna Magrete Muir, Jack Markussen, Sigurd Rosenberg, Peter Russo, Marie Skogvang-Stork, Anna Soland, Gwendolyn Warnock
Additional Prop, Painting & Sewing: Rosalie Arends, Cornelia Waage and Hallie Perlman
WAKKA WAKKA
https://www.wakkawakka.org/
Wakka Wakka is led by Gwendolyn Warnock and Kirjan Waage
Dead as a Dodo has received support from: Arts Council Norway, The Jim Henson Foundation, The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, FFUK, and Sea-Cargo AS.
Special Thanks to the Nord University Theatre Class of 2023.
ABOUT WAKKA WAKKA
Wakka Wakka is visual theatre company led by co-artistic directors Kirjan Waage and Gwendolyn Warnock. Since 2001, the company has developed 13 original works that combine physical performance, puppetry, masks, and original music to explore contemporary global themes through visually arresting, often surreal storytelling. Our mission is to create new works that are bold and unpredictable. The work is driven by a commitment to formal experimentation and an interest in the intersections between fantasy and reality, humor and sincerity. Productions such as SAGA (on the Icelandic financial crisis), Made in China(on international consumerism and human rights), and The Immortal Jellyfish Girl (on climate change and genetic engineering) reflect the company’s ongoing pursuit of stories that are both thematically ambitious and formally inventive. Wakka Wakka has collaborated with international institutions including the Princeton Atelier, Stockholm Royal Opera, the Oslo Philharmonic and Nordland Visual Theatre (Norway). They have toured internationally since 2006. The company has been recognized with honors including an OBIE Award, a Drama Desk Award, and multiple UNIMA Citations of Excellence.
IG: @wakkawakkaprods
NORDLAND VISUAL THEATRE:
Nordland Visual Theatre, based north of the Arctic Circle in Northern Norway, offers residencies and co-production to artists and theater companies. The theater plays a key role in developing and promoting visual theater in Norway. Nordland Visual Theatre’s co-productions range from traditional puppet theater to cross-over works merging elements from the visual arts, theater, mime, dance and multimedia. Productions are collaborations with theater companies, puppeteers, actors, directors, stage designers, composers and artists from all over the world.
NORD UNIVERSITY DRAMATIC ARTS:
Nord University educates skilled actors who can devise and perform original theatrical productions. The school is widely connected to the national and international performance industry and the quality of the education is portrayed through the work of their graduates. Great emphasis is placed on developing students’ artistic independence to create their own theatrical expressions.