A cave with a secret

In July, the family show "The Secret of the Caves" will be played in Kongens Gruve. The ingredients are silver, magic and strange quirks. We got to see short samples from the performance in Barnivalparken and met two of the children who play Helga and Jakob in the play.

Helga

It is Frida Aakre (12) and Hedvig S. Sandvik (10) who play Helga in the play. Both are from Kongsberg. Frida has done some theater in the past at Gamlegrendåsen school. For Hedvig from Jondalen, theater is quite new, but she has sung for several years in the children's choir in Kongsberg, so she is used to the stage. - Hedvig and Frida are really two finds, says Håkon Nilsen who is the initiator and who plays Hark in the play. - The hardest thing is remembering how to move in and out of each scene and where to stand, says Hedvig. And of course remembering the text, but it's really when you have to both remember a lot of text and remember the movements that it becomes a bit difficult.

Jacob

Jakob is played by Even M. Pedersen (10) and Kristian Runningen (12). Even is from Nedre Eiker and Kristian from Drammen. Today it is Even who plays in Barnivalparken. - I always buzz towards the end, says Even. It's a really difficult dance there, but we've learned that if we do something wrong, we just have to move on. Because it is not certain that the audience knows that it was not supposed to be exactly like that once. But we're not going to show that dance at the jazz festival.

Even has danced street dance for 3 years at Studio 3 in Kongsberg and drove back and forth from Horgen in Nedre Eiker to dance. I'll get some use for my dancing in "Hulenes Hemmlighet" then, says the lampshade. By the way, Hedvig is really fun to be with, she's also kind, says Even. She's a bit weird at times, but mostly she's decent. -Even is also fine, replies Hedvig. He is also really bouncy!

The logistics are the challenge

Putting on a theater performance inside the mines is primarily a challenge on the logistical side. Both actors and the audience are transported in and out the 2,2 km to Kongens Gruve in mining trains. The actors have been well trained to keep to schedule - here it's not just about breaking the time because a train doesn't always run... The young actors think it's perfectly fine to drive the mining train. There is room for 8 carriages, says Even, and it is also really close between the train and the rock face. It is tough, he concludes.

Once upon a time

It is Håkon T. Nielsen and Erlend H. Vikhagen i From Theater who is behind "The Secret of the Caves" in collaboration with the Norwegian Mining Museum. It all started with a desire to work together. - We had done a lot of theater together but wanted to develop our own show from scratch, says Håkon. Some may recognize them from "The Hunt for the Christmas Villain" at Drammens Theatre. - We are both from Eiker and were looking for an exciting place nearby to stage a play. I had been to the Silver Mines when I was younger and was very fascinated by the place. So then it became Kongsberg and Kongens Gruve then.

The play has been under planning since October and now we have had 3 weeks of trial time with the young actors, continues Håkon. It is in these short weeks that the biggest work is done and everything falls into place. We have what you can call a fluid distribution of work, he says. Whether there are writing meetings or we sit at the piano and strum. Arne Iversen has arranged the music - he is one of the men behind "The Hunt for the Christmas Villain".

Håkon and Erlend are in charge of most things themselves and there have been many long days, but make it clear that they have many good people around them. Without them it would not have been possible. Eva has sewn costumes and Hege at Oslo Nye Teater has created scenography. This is a real charity project and people have wanted to contribute, says Håkon.

More flavor

Both Hedvig and Even agree that it is a bit difficult but mostly fun to play theater and that showing off a taste of Barnivalen during the Kongsberg Jazz Festival has really added flavor. - We are really looking forward to playing in the mines. At the festival we have used a microphone so that people can hear, but we don't use it in the mines because there is a different sound. And that's okay, because we think there was too little noise from the mosquitoes we had today, at least when we sang.

Heating

Before they go on stage, they play a walking game, the concentration game, a rhythm game they call "hit the ground" and a penguin dance. There is a lot of laughter and movement when they try to show how things are going. - Erlend and Håkon are really good at teaching, they say. We have a lot of fun together.

In the preview on the Barnival stage, we saw that the children Helga and Jakob meet the silly Rarom for the first time. The audience also heard a short version of the cave song. - We hope this adds flavor and that people want to see the family show when it is played in Sølvgruvene for 3 weeks from 6 July, says Erlend. The performance is played every day from 6-26. July at 18:00, except Tuesdays. Tickets for the performance can be ordered on 99349777 or bought at the ticket office at Sølvgruvene in Saggrenda. We wish the young actors the best of luck in the mines!

Text: Ingvild Støa Skrede / Photo: Anders Barrow