Sleep | A richly poetic play by Nobel laureate Jon Fosse | Juxtaposing past, present and future in an unusual “existence”

A richly poetic play by Nobel laureate Jon Fosse
Juxtaposing past, present and future in an unusual “existence”
Sleep

 
【HKRep】Following the 2021 production of Winter, the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre presents Sleep, another work by Nobel Prize laureate Jon Fosse; it is a play that delves deep into existence, solitude and human bonds. Life is filled with complicated human relationships. As people move from one phase in life to another, change is inevitable and unpredictable—sometimes they get closer, other times they’ll be estranged. Within the same space, intimate dialogue among a few couples searches for connection and understanding despite barriers that separate them. But can people really listen to genuine messages from the heart? When Jon Fosse won the Nobel Prize in Literature, the award citation praised him “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”. Through minimal yet expressive dialogue and vignettes, Sleep creates strong resonance through the quietude it engenders. This play is written by Jon Fosse, translated by Tang Sai Cheong and directed by HKRep Assistant Artistic Director Yau Ting Fai with dramaturgy by Yu Tingzhi, featuring Pang Hang Ying, Ko Hon Man, Mercy Wong, Yu Hon Ting, Kiki Cheung, Fung Chi Yau, Eva Mak and Angus Chan in the cast. The production runs between 15^th and 30^th March at the Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre. Tickets are available now from URBTIX outlets.
 
Sleep: Couples of different ages move into a new house. They don’t acknowledge each other but seem to be aware of each other. The house recedes into a haze, time freezes before dissipating into thin air; people’s coming and going make up a rhythm akin to hesitancy in pillow talk. Just when the past and future confront each other in the same space… “he” arrives.
 
Director Yau Ting Fai states, “Jon Fosse’s script consists of different moments and fragments that follow the unique rhythm of the play, gradually unfolding into a permanence that is normal life. Imagination is the best tool we can use to appreciate the world of Jon Fosse. What’s spoken and what’s unspoken are actually the language we constantly use in everyday life. If you follow the rhythm of the words, imagination will take flight effortlessly.
 
When we produced Winter, some audience members described their experience as very “interesting”—the dramatic plot unfolded quietly and hit deep in the heart, catching them by surprise. Fosse’s writings capture the longing imbued in every “fragment” of life we treasure, but also they accentuate how our desires expend such “fragments”. The pen he wields creates a world intimately connected to everyone, because inexpressible feelings and silence have always been with us. I hope audiences can enter Jon Fosse’s literary world with a sense of calm, breathing the air and intuiting the feelings of the characters on stage.”
 
About Playwright Jon Fosse
2023 Nobel Prize in Literature winner. A Norwegian author and playwright and is widely considered to be one of the world’s greatest contemporary dramatists. He debuted in 1983 with the novel Red, black. His first play, And We'll Never Be Parted was performed and published in 1994. 
 
Fosse has written novels, short stories, poetry, children’s books, essays and plays. His works have been translated into more than 40 languages. In 2007, he was made a Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite in France and ranked at 83 on a list of the Top 100 living geniuses by The Daily Telegraph. He is also a commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. 
 
Since 2011, Fosse has been granted use of the Grotten, an honorary residence owned by the Norwegian state located on the premises of the Royal Palace in the city centre of Oslo. Use of the Grotten as a permanent residence is an honour specially bestowed by the King of Norway for contributions to Norwegian arts and culture. Jon Fosse has also received numerous awards such as: Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 2005, The Swedish Academy Nordic Prize in 2007, The Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 2007, The International Ibsen Awards in 2010.

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