Consciousness, Literature and the Arts
Archive
Volume 12 Number 3, December 2011
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THE BORNHOLM REVUE
produced by Bornholm’s Theatre at Rønne Theater, 2011
“Learn wisdom from the show of life” is the guidance
imparted across the proscenium arch at Rønne Theater
(built in 1823) and that’s what happens at this packed-to-the-rafters
revue as we laugh and snigger our way through skits and songs
that make us think back on the past year: Bornhom’s near-catastrophic
encounter with snow and a miserably handled case
of fraudulent science; what happens when self-love psychology
goes bad and a person has to seek couple’s therapy to regain trust
in herself; and Denmark’s involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
- the Vikings are back! Cathartic laughter – we are not superior to the jokes
we have been laughing at ourselves, this sure-footed cast makes it clear
we’re in this together, their satire stings in scenes on the politics
of daily gossip (“not that it’s any on my business”) whether you’re Bornholmer
or from off-island
my father who spent his national service on this Baltic island
(not long after the Russians had added many more ruins
to the ones left by the Germans) is in the best mood I’ve seen him
since my mother died last year. He and my mother took their last vacation
on Bornholm. Now he’s getting weaker, though his cancer is growing
slowly, and his legs won’t carry him sturdily. He has resisted
a walker till now, but recognizes coming down steep stairs
from the balcony and then walking to the car that the time
has possibly come and then we talk some more about gossiping
Bornholmers (“not that it’s any of my business”) whose dialect he loves to try
to imitate but can’t - neither can I. His attempts, though, more than mine
make for the better show. Because he laughs in memory