From robots to ramp trolls at GoFigure!: Here is the festival program at Kloden theater
May 25, 2025
Humor and new ways of being together in the theater space form the basis for much of this year's program, which kicks off this weekend .
A total of eight of the performances during GoFigure! – Festival for figure theatre and visual performing arts in Oslo, will be shown at Kloden theater between June 1 and 11.
The program can be found further down in the article.
For technology geeks and artists
– The main goal is to keep up with what is trending, and showcase the breadth of figure theater and visual theater in the Norwegian and international free field, says Torunn Tusj, festival director for GoFigure!
This year, GoFigure!'s program is aimed at children and young people, as it is every other year. Tusj points out that the performances at this year's festival are also interesting for adults.
– As an adult, you can come alone, but you can also bring your children or young people, says Tusj.
If Tusj were to highlight one of this year's performances that is extra special, she would choose "Simple Machines" by Kwaad Bloed/Ugo Dehaes from Belgium.
– “Simple Machines”, which has its Norwegian premiere during GoFigure!, uses robots as part of the performance. It is a performance with many layers, she says and continues:
To put it simply, "Simple Machines" is suitable for both technology nerds who are not interested in art, and art nerds who are not interested in technology.
– Torunn Tusj, festival director GoFigure!
There is also another premiere during this year's festival. "Rampetroll" by Anna Marie and Marie. The performance is for children from 3 years old. Those who are attentive may recognize the names from earlier this year, when Anna Marie and Marie performed the performance "Troll" for youth and adults at Kloden theater. We look forward to seeing you again!
Relaxed program – for everyone
– The relaxed program this year is for anyone who does not feel comfortable with the norms of behavior that exist in "regular" theater spaces, says Tusj.
Relaxed program overlaps with Kloden theater RELÆXT program, with performances that are open to everyone, and especially adapted for children, young people and families who need a slightly more relaxed setting to enjoy the experience.
– Everyone is welcome to the relaxed program. So far, there is only one relaxed performance left that is not sold out. It is "Makker" by Landing, which is for young people, says Tusj.
An important collaboration
This is the fourth year Kloden theater is the host theater for GoFigure! The collaboration is of great importance to both.
– Kloden theatre's values correspond to ours. This includes, among other things, pricing policy, inclusion, breadth, diversity and putting art first. In addition, Kloden "The theatre is a fantastic venue and the people who work there are fantastic. And I feel we both see the value of the warm welcome we give to the audience," says Tusj.
Before Kloden theater, GoFigure! has become a permanent summer attraction.
– There is always a good atmosphere during GoFigure! The festival attracts a wide audience, including those we might not see here at other times of the year. We are really looking forward to this year's festival, says Mari Haugen, producer for Kloden theater.
The entire GoFigure! program taking place on Kloden theater can be found here:
RELÆXT : Partner – Landing
Sunday 1 June at 12:00 and 15:00
Ticket prices from NOK 20,-
Target group : Young people with various disabilities
Makker is an interactive dance performance developed for young people with various disabilities. It is specifically designed for the age group 13 – 18 years, but can also be suitable for children over 10 years. The performance invites various forms of closeness, contact and community, with an overall goal of creating contact with each individual audience member through a lively interaction. Together we can become something more and different, both for ourselves and each other.
In Makker, each audience member is assigned their own U-shaped audience space – a separate pocket, a separate place to sit. This structure provides a firm and safe framework for the experience, but requires that the audience member's body can sit independently and comfortably in it.
The audience gets the opportunity to take part in the different parts of the performance: the dancers dance, the audience is rocked, and together we build a labyrinth. Each experience is unique, and physical experiences and exploration are facilitated in safe surroundings. We create a space where we can be differently-bodied individuals who discover and explore the "terrain" in our own way. Through the use of humor and rhythm, different moods and degrees of closeness are created, while the space gradually changes. The performance provides the opportunity for dialogue with the performers. The role of the companion is important for the audience to get the most out of the performance. Companions will receive necessary information along the way, and it is possible to talk to the performers along the way.
More information can be found here !
Simple Machines – Kwaad Bloed/Ugo Dehaes (Belgium)
Monday 2 June at 12:00, 18:00 and 20:00
Tuesday 3 June at 09:00, 11:00 and 13:30
Ticket prices from NOK 20,-
Target group: From 12 years (or from 7 for those who understand English)
Finally, the absolute favorite of performing arts festivals in Norway!
This highly anticipated and critically acclaimed satire attempts to make humans completely redundant in the process of creation. Welcome to the future!
In a world dominated by economic principles that strive to make everything as efficient and cheap as possible, choreographer Ugo Dehaes decided to fire all his dancers, after researching how to breed and train his own robots. They are born from cocoons and then crawl across the table like strange caterpillars, and through artificial intelligence he lets them come up with their own dance performance. As a result, Ugo's job as a choreographer also disappears. In Simple Machines, performance and lecture format are mixed with the feeling of being a guest in a zoo.
After the performance, the audience will be invited to explore an installation where they can teach the robots new movements.
More information can be found here !
RELÆXT : Concert with Trio Oro
Wednesday, June 4th at 12:00
Ticket prices from NOK 20,-
Target group: For everyone, but adapted to those who need a little more "relaxed" shapes
A concert with TRIO ORO is something completely out of the ordinary. The band offers a unique line-up (recorder, djembe and guitar), high technical level, infectious musical joy and lots of charm. Here you get everything from Prøysen songs to Bolivian folk music, you get fierce rhythms and one of the world's most beautiful melodies. You'll want to dance, cheer and sometimes you'll just want to listen.
Our relaxed program is open to everyone, but is adapted to those who need a little more "relaxed" forms. Here the lights are never completely turned off, the sound level is adjusted, and it is perfectly fine to go in and out of the hall if you need a break. The hall never gets completely full, so those who like to have some space around them can get it. Trio Oro is happy to have a chat both before and after the concert.
When you buy a ticket for this concert, you will receive an information letter with a presentation of the performers and information about the concert venue and what you can expect during the concert.
Trio Oro is our festival band and holds small pop-up concerts throughout the festival period.
More information can be found here !
Pi*s & Preach on Kloden with summer party and concert with Trio Oro
Wednesday, June 4 at 5:00 PM
Free admission (remember to get a ticket in advance to ensure a seat)
Target group : Collection for the free performing arts field
The Pi*s & Preach collections at Kloden theatre has during the winter included input meetings and workshops to map and clarify the needs of the independent performing arts field. Now we want to meet again to gather the threads of the work so far and look at the way forward. There is currently no membership organization for the independent performing arts companies in Norway, and then there is no one who has a mandate from the companies themselves to be the common voice of the field. Many are now calling for better organization and strengthening of the performing arts companies in the face of current and future challenges. We therefore want to invite the independent performing arts field to a full evening at Kloden theater on Wednesday, June 4th during the GoFigure festival! The bar is open and we have soup on the menu.
Read more here !
Don Quixote (is a very big book) – Opposable Thumb (UK)
Thursday, June 5th at 7:30 PM
Ticket prices from NOK 20,-
Target group: From 14 years old
In his new one-man show, Dik Downey (Green Ginger, Pickled Image, Opposable Thumb) weaves together the insane delusions of Don Quixote with his own struggle with reality. With a gallery of rogues, figures, and desperate clowning, Dik's Quixote embarks on surreal and comic misadventures, accompanied by his wisecracking sidekick, Sancho Panza, and his jaded horse, Rocinante.
As Dik struggles to make the retelling of this enormous novel enjoyable for the audience, we also see something else – Dik’s refusal to give in to the passing of time. While Quixote pursues his impossible dreams of glory, Dik confronts his own diminishing relevance and mortality.
Here, laugh-out-loud moments and crazy reflections are mixed with the joys and humiliations of growing old and fighting the inevitable.
Read more here !
Puppet Punch – Wakka Wakka
Friday, June 6 at 7:30 PM
Ticket prices from NOK 20,-
Target group: From 15 years old
Will it be improvised short performances, sketches, cabaret acts or one long performance? Whatever it is, you will see fabulous performers with live music and humor as weapons!
World-renowned WAKKA WAKKA has humor as their signature and precision as their tool, fearlessly plunging into any stage space. The award-winning company of Kirjan Waage and Gwendolyn Warnock, based in Oslo and New York, now returns from a tour in South Korea to lead our international artists' meeting.
In 2024, the MANIPULATE ARTS festival organized an international artist exchange for performing artists. As an extension of this, this year we have invited two Scottish, two Finnish and two Norwegian puppet theater practitioners to three workshop days with WAKKA WAKKA. The theme is the use of humor and characters, and it all ends in a fantastic full evening where the laughter muscles will be exercised and anything can happen!
Read more here !
Rampetroll – Anna Marie and Marie
Saturday 7 June at 13:00 and 15:00
Ticket prices from NOK 20,-
Target group: From 3 years old
The duo Anna Marie and Marie achieved great international success with their performance Troll, after it was shown at the world's largest theatre festival, the Edinburgh Fringe. The Scottish arts magazine the wee Review called them "queens of the ridiculous", while both the Guardian and the Telegraph ranked the performance as one of the 50 best performances of the festival.
In the family performance Rampetroll, we meet two trolls who come face to face with something completely unknown: children.
How can trolls communicate with their very limited vocabulary? Will they learn anything from this? And do they have anything in common with these little people?
Through movement, music and a little mischief, this two-troll clown show aims to remove humanity's fear of the unknown, make us imagine a funnier and more silly world, and ultimately: find what brings us together. At the same time, it finally tells the truth about some notorious goats who are a major nuisance to their local community every year...
Read more here !
The Crowd – Theatre Playhouse
Sunday 8 June at 15:00 and 19:30
Ticket prices from NOK 20,-
Target group : From 13 years (or 10 years with guardian)
Leikhus is an internationally recognized company that has been exploring playfulness and the framework for what performing arts can be for 10 years.
The Crowd is about the loneliness and joy of being part of something, a community, a crowd. The performance is experienced through distributed headphones, there are no seats and gives the audience a space of opportunity they rarely get to experience in the theater. Perhaps this is theater's answer to silent disco?
Read more here !
Frida – Katma
Tuesday 10 June at 10:00, 16:50 and 18:00
Wednesday 11 June at 10:00 and 12:00
Ticket prices from NOK 20,-
Target group : From 9 years old
With headphones, you are guided into Frida's world, directly to the heart of Mexico, where you are not just a spectator, but an active participant in Frida's colorful life. Frida is a tribute to courage, diversity and imagination as a tool to overcome adversity.
Made for adventurous souls over 9 years old, and adults with a child's heart, “Frida” offers a 45-minute journey you will never forget.
Read more here !