Plays 4: And We'll Never Be Parted / The Son / Visits / Meanwhile the Lights Go Down and Everything Becomes Black

by Jon Fosse, Louis Muinzer (Translator), May-Brit Akerholt (Translator)

Fosse's characteristic compression of theatrical time and space at its most concentrated

Genres: Plays, Nobel Prize

293 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

Jon Olav Fosse was born in Haugesund, Norway and currently lives in Bergen. He debuted in 1983 with the novel Raudt, svart (Red, black). His first play, Og aldri skal vi skiljast, was performed and published in 1994. Jon Fosse has written novels, short stories, poetry, children's books, essays and plays. His works have been translated into more than forty languages. He is widely considered as one of the world's greatest contemporary playwrights. Fosse was made a chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite of France in 2007. Fosse also has been ranked number 83 on the list of the Top 100 living geniuses by The Daily Telegraph.

He was awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 "for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable".

Since 2011, Fosse has been granted the Grotten, an honorary residence owned by the Norwegian state and located on the premises of the Royal Palace in the city centre of Oslo. The Grotten is given as a permanent residence to a person specifically bestowed this honour by the King of Norway for their contributions to Norwegian arts and culture.

Reviews

[James F · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection contained four more plays by Nobel prize-winner Jon Fosse.

The first play, And We'll Never Be Parted (Og aldri skal vi skiljast, 1994) I didn't like; while I enjoyed the ambiguity of some of his earlier plays, in this one he takes it too far; rather than being susceptible to multiple interpretations, this one seems to have no possible consistent interpretation. It has an old woman and a man, and (the same?) man and a young girl (their younger selves?) and the man is sometimes visible but not seen and at other times seen but not there, and the two couples seem to interact, unlike the earlier plays where the there are earlier and younger versions of the same characters who however do not interact.

The other three were better, though not as good as some of the earlier plays:

The second play, The Son (Sonen, 1997) is about a couple who live in an increasingly abandoned rural area, their last neighbor, and their son. It has an actual plot, but it seems rather absurdist.

The third play, Visits (Besok, 2000), is about a disturbed young girl, and what may or may not have been responsible for her problems.

The last, very short play, Meanwhile the lights go down and everything becomes black (Medan lyset går ned og alt blir svart, 2001) is about the breakup of a family.

[Stef White · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was highly anticipating these play’s considering FOSSE has just won the Nobel Prize for literature but the writing was awful and I’m left so disappointed.

I disliked the first play and thought they’d improve the more I read but the reality was quite the opposite.

These plays were boring to read and I cannot imagine a world where these would be anymore interesting to watch on stage either. Such a shame.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este tomo entra dentro de la regularidad de las obras de teatro de Fosse. Si tuviera que elegir con cuál quedarme pienso que sería con "Visit" que retrata la soledad de una hija adolescente que la obliga al aislamiento pese a los intentos de su madre por remediar la situación.

[laila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I svarte skogen inne.

[A Ojala · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE GIRL
Don’t talk rubbish
I’ll get frightened