Basic Stitch - Time, Presence, Craft

It doesn't just fill, it takes over. The efficiency. The productivity. It takes over and grows, filling the voids and erasing what we thought we knew, what we thought we carried with us. What we thought was a part of us.

In a time where efficiency can feel like the only option, Basic Stitch is an attempt to do the opposite - to turn back time, to dwell on the simple, on the small, the tactile and the strength of community.

With clothing production as a backdrop, the textile, the woven threads that together create the whole - is used as the basic material of the performance. Starting from the tailor's understanding of the fabric, the seam and the shape, the elements are grounded back to the practical making and the tactile work, all in an attempt to find and create a common meeting place.

In Basic Stitch, it is the interaction between the performers and the materials that creates the space, and the presence between them that creates the content and value that is presented. The audience is co-creator by their proximity and the whole is created here and now, a metamorphosis we all participate in here and always. We want to feel and feel what arises and is always between us - between, above and around language, the body, the hand and the skin - again, and again. Let us meet, let us feel, see and hear, and experience unity in the same space.

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In 2022, Damon & Garner were asked to develop a project based on Jewish clothing production in Trondheim and be a 'different fashion show'.

They then took as their starting point the local stories of the three factories Tiger Konfeksjon, A. Mendelsohn & Sons and Trokofa Konfeksjon, all run by Jewish families in Trondheim until the 1980s. They designed, produced and sold fashion and workwear. By collecting original clothing, which was preserved in attics around Trondheim, we began to investigate both the history and texture of these objects. An important contribution to the work came from an interview with Randi Ness (83), who had previously worked as an unpacking mannequin for, among others, Tiger Konfeksjon. Her memories and experiences from a bygone era became the basis for the development of both thematics and text.

In 2023, an early version of Basic Stitch was displayed in the premises of Cosmo.Bogart, a clothing store run by the Jewish Klein family who have been operating a store in Trondheim since 1900.

Theatre director at Trøndelag Teater, Elisabeth Egseth Hansen, saw the screening in 2023 and became interested in further collaboration towards this year's festival.

In 2025, the creative team has continued to work with elements from the work in 2022/23, and now presents a somewhat more open and associative work, which continues the investigation of the theme of clothing, clothing production and the value of caring.

Welcome to an associative landscape – an alternative world of sound, image, movement and text.

Direction and concept:

Natali Abrahamsen Garner

Idea:

Ingri Enger Damon & Natali Abrahamsen Garner

Performers:

Ingeleiv Berstad, Kristin Helgebodstad, Runa Rebne, Ingunn Rimstad, Ingri Enger Damon, Natali Abrahamsen Garner

Voice:

Tuva Syversen

Scenography:

Hazel Barstow

Music:
Natali Abrahamsen Garner

Text:
Natali Abrahamsen Garner & Ingri Enger Damon

Big thanks to:
Trøndelag Theatre; Elisabeth Egseth Hansen and Erik Johansen, Jewish Cultural Festival, Rita Abrahamsen, Randi Næss, Henriette Kahn.

Basic Stitch is supported by

Ministry of Culture and Equality

The Arts Council

Sound and Image Fund

Directorate of Culture