About the play
Hanan B. has travelled from France to Norway only to discover that the agenda of Jean-Marie Le Pen and the National Front in France has taken root in the North as well. In Oslo, she meets Sara B, who fled Saddam Hussein’s war against the Kurds in the 1980s.
In Ways of Seeing, Hanan Benammar, Sara Baban and Pia Maria Roll try to map networks that profits on the reinforcement of racism in Norwegian society. Who are the people in these networks, what do they want to achieve?
When the play premiered in Oslo in 2019, it attracted a lot of attention and broadened the debate on racism in Norway. Although the work takes Norway as its starting point, it refers to global events such as the Algerian war of independence, current political figures in France, the conflict in Kurdistan, and social experiments in the autonomous region of Rojava in Syria.
Ways of Seeing is a powerful demonstration of how art allows for experiments that can be used to examine urgent questions about the present.
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The artists
Pia Maria Roll
Pia Maria Roll is a Norwegian theatre director. She has worked as an actor, director, scriptwriter and playwright. Roll is known in Norway for the performances Street Scene (2008), Over evne III (2010), Ship O’hoi (2012), Ses i min nästa pjäs (2015) and Nå løper vi!
Hanan Benammar
Hanan Benammar (b. 1989) is an Algerian/French artist based in Oslo. She holds master’s degrees from the Oslo Academy of Art and from the Dutch Art Institute.
Sara Baban
Sara Baban is an actress and singer. She has worked as an actor in the Norwegian touring theatre company Risteateret. In recent years, Baban has been on tour with the successful play Nå løper vi! She is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the National Academy of the Arts in Oslo.
The team
Performers: Sara Baban, Hanan Benammar, Ali Djabbary, Ketil Lund
Concept: Pia Maria Roll, Marius von der Fehr
Text: Sara Baban, Hanan Benammar, Ali Djabbary, Pia Maria Roll, Marius von der Fehr
Direction: Pia Maria Roll
Co-direction: Marius von der Fehr
Dramaturgy: Kai Johnsen
Scenography, costumes: Jennie Bringaker
Music: Sara Baban, Hanan Benammar, Phonophani, Jon Platou Selvig
Drawing, animation: Lotte Konow Lund
Lighting design: Svein Inge Neergård
Video: Sara Baban, Hanan Benammar, Pia Maria Roll, Marius von der Fehr, Line Lyngstadaas
Text excerpts: Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Jean-Paul Sartre, and others
In cooperation with
Black Box Teater.
Supported by
Norsk Kulturfond and Dramatikkens hus.
Location and accessibility
Kiasma Theatre is located on the first floor, at the opposite end of the building from the main doors. The theatre has no numbered seats. Jackets and bags can be left to Kiasma’s cloakroom for free.
The top level of Kiasma Theatre is accessible. We recommend to contact Kiasma’s info before if a place for a weelchair is needed.
Contemporary live art