Would you mind giving us an insight into what your show/event/performance is?
The show LOL – Laughing Out Lonely takes the audience into the darkest corners of social media and tells the story of a lonely man, who lives out his life online and makes himself available to the existences that hide here.
LOL is especially written for the brilliant countertenor Morten Grove Frandsen, who amazes with the embodiment of a myriad of outcast characters in a thoroughly dramatic universe. With his impressive voice, Morten Grove Frandsen expresses the sadness of the teenager who cuts herself to ignore the pain of life, just like he conveys the tragic tale of the abused boy who hides behind the profile ‘The slaughtered lamb’. The singer also transforms into ‘The sexy monkey’ who will do anything for a banana, just like he portrays the over-geared ‘Teddy bear’ who wants to destroy all other pets on earth.
LOL is staged like a musical echo chamber that surrounds the audience and where the algorithms run wild, and the protagonist gets lost. All the lyrics are taken from posts on social media. The story is both moving and scary. It depicts the digital society we live in, where the loneliness of especially young people is despairing. The idea of LOL started during COVID, where we were all isolated, and detached from each other.
Tell us about the creative team and the process involved?
LOL is written especially for the countertenor Morten Grove Frandsen, who has been part of the artistic process right from the beginning. The music is written in a unique collaboration between the two composers Matilde Böcher (who has written the lead voice) and Asger Kudahl (who has produced the music and created the live electronic soundscape that surrounds the audience). The opera is staged by Louise Beck, who is the artistic director of the company OPE-N, which has produced the show. The lighting design is by the leading designer Jeppe Lawaetz and the stage design is by the award-winning production designer Josefine Else Larsen. The whole team has been part of a long process including workshops and work in progress presentations, where the show slowly has been shaped in close relationship with test audiences and mentors.
How does it feel coming to (back to) the Fringe?
It is the first time we present a show at the Fringe, so this is very exciting. I am very much looking forward to the response from the Fringe- audience. We have performed LOL in very different countries and have had very different but always extremely good responses.
As a professional artist, I have been to the Fringe many times, and I also have a lot of good memories from when I was younger and studied in London, and we all went to Edinburgh for the Fringe. I particularly remember the buzz at the street with performances all over the place.
With shows from all over the world at the Fringe, what sets yours apart?
Laughing Out Lonely is a portrait of contemporary loneliness, shaped around quotes from real people online. With universal relevance, and a tour de force performance, it breaks down the boundaries between performer and audience, creating an environment that is at once unsettling and deeply human. Direct, unflinching and emotionally charged, LOL pushes the limits of what opera can be, speaking urgently to a generation navigating identity, connection and loneliness online.
On that, is there anything in the production or production team’s backgrounds which influences the way the show is performed or told?
The idea of LOL started during COVID, where we were all isolated, and detached from each other. We came together as an artistic team with a shared urge to create a universal portrait of the loneliness we all fell
Is there anything specific you’re hoping the audience will take away?
I hope that the audience will feel moved and get a glimpse of the brutal world of loneliness, and how human desperation can make us go too far in our actions.
Your Ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t…?
LOL is for all people who hate opera. Beside telling an important story, the show is breaking down all the prejudices of opera, and has so far attracted a lot of young people and new theater audiences. They all come together with the opera lovers, so it is a great and quite unique mix.
It’s an intense month, so where you’re able, how do you plan to relax, and are there any other shows you intend to see or want to recommend?
Yes, it will be a very intense time, but we are used to touring and love the intensity. Our team has so much fun when they are on the road. We will see all the performances at Summerhall Arts and the rest of the great shows coming from Denmark as part of #DANISH.
Laughing Out Lonely runs at Venue 26, Dissection Room at Summerhall
Runs: 18th -30th August at Various times
Photo credit – Tom Ingvard
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