A bagatelle for two.

In a twentieth century library Gustavsson is searching for the meaning of life.

Aber Dabei, the fly in the ointment, is the slight uncertainty that prompts him to continue searching.

The library, to quote Borges, is “the world captured in a mirror”.

And the books – they are in four languages: realism and fantasy, non-fiction and fiction, canonised and non-canonised. They all contain a snippet of truth, though tend as a whole to assume absurd dimensions.

The performance lies in the wake of The Lemonkeepers from 2004. It is the last of a series of works combining circus, dance and theatre techniques. They make use of minimalism, a performer, a musician, as well as a vast number of books and old newspapers.

The performer is Samuel Gustavsson. He reads, writes, talks, dances, juggles and conjures, making use of anything at hand. Samuel has previously taken part in the X-act productions The Lemonkeepers, 2004, and Palimpsest, 2006.

The musician is Sture Ericson. He reads, walks, plays his records, mixes old voices with new, plays both electronic and acoustic music, and is himself an ‘aber dabei’. Sture has played in all the previous X-act productions.

Aber Dabei premiered in Festsalen, St. Kannikestræde 19, from on April 19th, 2007.

A collection of texts and visual statements created specially for the occasion under the title Aber Dabei was published in connection with the performance. The contributing artists are Claus Carstensen, Nanos Valaoritis, Jørgen Michaelsen, Neringa Abrutyte, MaJabber, Jason Depountis, Jan-Bertil Andersson, Lene Asp Frederiksen and Theofanis Melas.

Touring:
Waves festival, Vordingborg, Denmark, 22 August 2007.
Baggaardteatret, Svendborg, Denmark, 17 January 2008.

Archauz, Århus, Denmark, 18-19 January 2008.

The performance is open for further booking in 2008.