Essentially Contested: Performative Transgression in and around 'The Wastefulness Commission 2021' by Traavik.info

Abstract

In this article, I examine performative transgression in, and interwoven with, The Wastefulness Commission 2021 by Traavik.info. Launched by Morten Traavik in December 2019, the so-called hypertheatre project evolved into a big national theatre scandal during the process from the announcement to the realization of two stage performances in 2021 (Part 1 Vestland: 14 May at Ole Bull Scene in Bergen/Norway; Part 2 Viken: 22 June at Drammens Teater in Drammen/Norway), and beyond. The project caused heated conflict within the performing arts field in Norway that spread into the cultural public sphere where it is still virulent at the time of writing. In the article, I first present a theoretical framing concerning performativity and transgression bound to the question of efficacy of performances and the relation between theatre and the public sphere before I move to the case. In the reading of the case, I apply a multiscale-approach, combining micro- and macro-perspectives. I examine how Traavik activates and performatively reconfigures pre-existing cultural and political controversies concerning the experimental performing arts in Norway. Further, I discuss the scandalizing dynamics through the perspective of performative transgression and account for how the question of framing and contextualization is part of the contentious cultural processes. Finally, I focus on one of the stage performances and the performative practice of re-enactment.