"Just remember that powerlessness is violence's closest ally. And that those who feel too small when faced with the vast may easily come to feel too large when faced with the small."
(The Killer Slug, Arion vulgaris)

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In Tore Vagn Lid's reading drama The Trigger System, we meet the Sender, who will eventually come to call himself "Captain Noah". Together with his living insects and mysterious carrier pigeons, the ageing, endangered researcher has withdrawn into a fairy-tale universe of fables, hoping to save himself and his creatures from the biblical flood of contemporary wars and crises.

As both observer and captain, he guides his carefully selected insects through an elaborately constructed insect habitat—a vivarium. Upon an ocean of drowned humanity and discarded morality, stick insects, slugs, woodlice and earwigs gradually become both companions and antagonists in a philosophical tragedy about humanity in nature and nature within humanity.

The Trigger System continues Tore Vagn Lid and Transiteatret-Bergen's long-standing artistic research into the exchange between theatre and music, and between aesthetics and politics. As a new dramatic work, the trilogy draws inspiration from the oldest traditions of animal stories, reaching back to Aesop's Fables.

The production further develops what Vagn Lid has termed co-hearing (samhøring). The concept rests upon three dramaturgical principles. First, the importance of hearing—in the sense of listening, not merely watching theatre. Second, the importance of hearing together: the fundamental difference between listening alone and listening collectively. Finally, the possibility that this shared act of listening may create new forms of community, cultivating belonging in a time increasingly shaped by individualisation, polarisation and the fragmentation of public discourse.

Transiteatret-Bergen works at the intersection of theatre and music, developing a contemporary and experimental theatre practice. Led by playwright and director Tore Vagn Lid, the company brings together an interdisciplinary network of leading artists and performers. Since its inception, its ambition has been to expand theatre as a critical space of experience, placing particular emphasis on the musical and music-dramaturgical potential of the stage.

As a playwright, composer and director whose work has received both the Ibsen Award and several Hedda Awards, Tore Vagn Lid steps even further into the roles of dramatist and composer with The Trigger System.

 

Over more than two decades, Transiteatret-Bergen has established itself through a series of acclaimed stage productions.

Their production 03:08:38 States of Emergency, Tore Vagn Lid's reconstruction of the afternoon of 22 July 2011, continues to tour nationally and internationally, including a guest performance in Berlin in autumn 2024. For this production, the artistic team of Transiteatret-Bergen received the Hedda Award for Best Audiovisual Design, while Tore Vagn Lid received the Hedda Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement.

Facts

• The Trigger System I – The Vivarium premiered at Black Box Teater, Oslo, 28 August 2024.

• The Trigger System I + II premiered at the Arctic Arts Festival (Festspillene i Nord-Norge), 21 June 2025, in co-production with Riksteatret (The National Touring Theatre of Norway).

• The Trigger System, a reading drama by Tore Vagn Lid, published by Cappelen Damm, 2025.

 

Awards and nominations

• Hedda Award – Best Production (won)

• Hedda Award – Best Dramatic Text (won)

• Hedda Award - Best Director (nominated)

• Hedda Award - Best Audio-visual Concept (nominated)

• Nominated for the 2026 Ibsen Award for Best Drama

 

Creative Team

Playwright, audiovisual concept, scenography, director, composer and performer (guitar)
Tore Vagn Lid

Øystein Nesheim – illustrator, scenographer, miniature artist, performer (The Ant – Formicidae)

Tor Christian Bleikli – producer, dramaturg, visual dramaturgy, performer (The Earwig / Tiger Beetle / Tarantula)

Kyrre Bjørkås – visual dramaturgy, installation, performer (The Praying Mantis – Mantodea)

Mathias Grønsdal – audiovisual technology (The Weevil – Curculionidae)

Anders E. Hultgreen – live video, photography (The Silverfish – Ctenolepisma longicaudata)

 

Actors

Magne Håvard Brekke / Anders Baasmo – Captain Noah (Homo sapiens)

Bjørn Sundquist – The Killer Slug (Arion vulgaris)

Even Stormoen – The Stick Insect (Phasmatidae)

Thea Stabell / Gjertrud Jynge – The Woodlouse (Oniscidea)

Sindre Arder Skildheim / Tor Christian Bleikli – The Tarantula

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Singers

Eira Sjaastad Huse / Frøydis F. Kopperud – The Mayfly (Ephemera)

Iver Bogen Griffiths / Ørjan Hartveit – The Centipede (Chilopoda)

Bodil Rørtveit – The Moth (Heterocera)

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Orchestra

Hans Knut Sveen – Harpsichord (Ixodida)

Morten Skage – Bass (Vespa crabro)

Snorre Bjerck – Percussion

Per Jørgensen – Trumpet / Vocals

Supported by: Arts and Culture Norway, The Norwegian Fund for Sound and Image, Bergen Municipality, The Norwegian Centre for New Playwriting (Dramatikkens hus), and the Fritt Ord Foundation.

Produced by: Transiteatret-Bergen

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Co-produced by: Riksteatret (The National Touring Theatre of Norway), Black Box Teater, Arctic Arts Festival (Festspillene i Nord-Norge).

With thanks to: Department of Art and Media Studies (NTNU), Wrap Art Centre, and sculptor John Audun Hauge.

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Reception:

Award for "Best Theatre Production" - Heddaprisen 2025

"Celebrating theatre's unique language, resilience, and transformative power, the production weaves together a wealth of bold and original theatrical devices. Through allegory, and with an exceptional ensemble of performers and musicians, this musical fable takes the pulse of our planet in the midst of an apocalyptic flood—an experience that is unsettling, breathtaking, and brutally beautiful." (Hedda Jury)

 

Award for "Best dramatic text"  - Heddaprisen 2025

"A clever, fairy-tale-like and remarkably original text that never preaches, yet is unafraid to be political. Exploring the climate crisis, the climate of public discourse, and the social dynamics of human interaction, this narrative drama entertains while sparking reflections that endure long after the curtain falls." (Hedda Jury)

 

Nominated for "Best director" ( for Heddaprisen)

"Nothing is left to chance as this cornucopia is allowed to overflow without a single element being squandered. Guided by the director's all-encompassing vision and extraordinary eye for detail, the production unfolds with effortless musical elegance, spanning everything from the tiniest miniature to the most dizzying flights of imagination." (Hedda Jury)

 

Nominated for "Best Audio-visual design" (  Heddaprisen)

"A visual and musical feast, created through highly sophisticated techniques disguised as simple, analogue craftsmanship. An aesthetic tour de force that harnesses the full potential of the theatrical apparatus, conjuring an epic fable in which singers, musicians, actors, original music, and live video coalesce into a singular artistic vision." (Hedda Jury)

 

Nominated for "Best drama" (the National Ibsen Award 2026)

"A richly imaginative and philosophical drama in which insects look upon humankind, asking fundamental questions about our place in the natural world." (Ibsen Award Jury)

 

 

Critics (after World premiere, Arctic Arts Festival (opening performance 2025):

 

“I came in as a skeptic. I left as an enthusiast. Tore Vagn Lid’s The Trigger System is a stroke of genius.”

 — IHarstad ★★★★★★

 

“Like a Wagner opera […] you leave with the feeling of having encountered—and been challenged by—something extraordinarily monumental.”

— Harstad Tidende

 

“The Trigger System became a visual and musical feast, but also a challenge, a philosophical inquiry, and a theatrical tour de force.”

 — NRK

 

“Tore Vagn Lid’s new, grand-scale music theatre production The Trigger System proved to be a powerful experience and a major success. Choosing Lid and Transiteatret-Bergen to open the festival demanded artistic nerve, ambition, and a work that speaks to our times. The production delivers all this in abundance: a landmark music theatre event featuring a stellar ensemble, remarkable symbolism, and a socially critical force that grips both the intellect and the emotions.”

 — Harstad Tidende ★★★★★★

 

"A disturbing, breathtaking, brutally beautiful and deeply musical fable about humanity's ability to walk into its own traps."

 — Dagsavisen ★★★★★★

 

"A beautiful—and perhaps hopeful—allegory for our time."

 — Dagsavisen ★★★★★★

 

"A celebration of theatre itself, of the audience's experience, and of the unique illusions that only art can create."

 — Dagsavisen ★★★★★★

 

"A refreshingly analogue fable that connects the eternity of the past with the eternity of the future."

 — Norsk Shakespeartidsskrift

 

"Politically sharp and brilliantly performed by a cast of veteran actors."

 — Norsk Shakespeartidsskrift

 

"A tribute to the human imagination."

 — Klassekampen

 

"An experience that continues to resonate long after the curtain falls."

 — Scenekunst.no

 

"Combining traditional theatre with innovative storytelling, Lid invites audiences to reflect on society and the environment through imagination and creativity."

 — Scenekunst.no

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