The archive, if it can be said to be anything at all, is an uncanny potential, like the stage itself. After three years of engaging with Infinite Record: Archive, Memory, Performance, “archive” for Norwegian Theater Academy at Østfold University College now refers to a phenomenon of attention. Infinite Record has amplified the demand to listen to the present, and by responding we can carry forth, transform, or release the reso- nances of the past. This project informed our engagement with the topic of performance and memory such that the notion of “archive” for us now also implies methods of relation, repetition, embodiment, listening, and care, as well as polyphonic acts of overwriting, erasure, and letting go.
At NTA in Fredrikstad, Norway we educate acting and scenography students in contemporary theatre from the undergraduate to post-graduate levels. Students work closely together to generate new original theatre works informed by compositional strategies found in music and architecture. Our practices are based in research, in seeking relationships and potentials produced by theater, and in investigating how performance can engage with both a space and the public via the senses while simultaneously stimulating critical discourse and thought. For almost 20 years the education has invited groundbreaking international guest artists to create unique projects in conjunction with the students.