Back to Square One? in Denmark as part of CPH Stage

One of the reasons for using chalk in the show was because it allowed us to leave an imprint - or a stamp if you will - wherever the show was performed. Since Back to Square One? was originally created to be performed outside in public spaces the thinking was that people walking by later in the day would see this big drawing on the ground and wonder "What the frak happened here?". In my hometown of Viborg I did get a chance to make the stamp outside the apartment where my grandmother lived. At that moment it felt like the play had truly come back to square one.

Now I'm back here in Auckland and am slowly digesting it all because it was quite a ride!

I performed Back to Square One? in Danish for the very first time and had three great shows at Teater V as part of Cph Stage. Two of the shows sold out and now we're talking about it potentially returning to Denmark for a tour in 2024. That's pretty exciting, but you see when you donate to a Boosted campaigns lots of other things can happen. Sure, a play is put on either here or there but other stuff happens too. In this case, your donation meant that:

Old ladies far far away shed a tear when they thought of a dear friend

Friends who haven't seen each other for a long long time were reunited

New knowledge was gained about the touring networks in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark and the Baltic states

Colleagues who have only met on zoom met in real life

Connections with New Zealand colleagues living in Denmark were made

A rare first edition Star Wars magazines from 1983 was presented as a surprise gift after a show from a primary school friend

A young girl emailed me for the recipe for a kringle (a Danish Danish) and she nailed it!

Families got together

A dad gave an impromptu speech in Copenhagen after a show and Initial groundwork for potential future exchange between Denmark and Aotearoa was laid.

That's just the half of it! Professionally speaking this trip was incredibly rewarding but on a personal level it was very special, so once again THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support in helping The Rebel Alliance travel to Copenhagen.

Keep supporting New Zealand artists. Donate to their boosted campaigns, buy tickets to their shows. Support them in whatever way you can and in return they'll give you stories you didn't know you needed.

Ngā mihi nui,

Anders

Ps. If you have any questions or the like you are always welcome to email me on anders@therebelalliance.co.nz

Yesterday I did the final performance at Teater V as part of the CPH Stage. It's been a dream run with two of the three shows selling out.

Now I need to gather all my notes, pack everything up and meet the theatre for a bit of a debrief about where to next. It's been amazing to see how things work in Denmark and to meet colleagues from Sweden, Germany and Denmark. I've also eaten a lot of sausages.

Anders

Kia ora e hoa mā,

This Saturday just gone I performed Back to Square One? in Danish (which was surprisingly difficult!), for friends, family, old neighbours and a couple of old friends of my grandmother. The venue was my nephew's school's schoolyard, which conveniently has a little amphitheatre.

For those of you who haven't seen the show it ends with recording of my grandmother talking directly to the audience and I won't deny it; it is a total emotional ambush and there were some tears... But there was also lots of laughter, significant amounts of coffee, lots of talking and some kringle (a Danish danish) to boot.

It was a beautiful and very special day so thank you for your help with putting on a show in Denmark. It means a lot to me.

I can only post one image on Boosted but I will post some more on my facebook page in case you would like to have a bit more of an idea of what it looked like.

On Thursday 'Back to Square One?' has its official premiere (in English) as part of the CPH Stage Festival and two of the three shows have already sold out, which is very exciting.

I will report on how it all goes. Hope you're all well back in Aotearoa.

Ngā mihi nui,

Anders

Here you all are. All 110 of you, who helped me get this one across the line. Those of you that are anonymous are hiding on the left side but I see you. I see you.

To be honest I am actually a bit overwhelmed with the amount of people that came out to help me with this one. Theatre is a tricky business at the best of time so knowing that I have so many friends and colleagues and shadowy strangers behind makes me is a massive confidence booster and it'll propel me all the way to Copenhagen!

I will do some updates when I'm over there so you can get a sense of what it looks like in a Scandinavian setting.

I've already lined up a couple of meetings with some artists that I think it will be good to connect with and a German theatre is coming up to have a look at the show too. So there you go. It's all on!

Once again. Thank you so much. You're amazing each and every one of you!

Ngā mihi nui,

Anders