- Anna Gutto
and Oslo. Her career includes acting, writing, translating, directing and adaptations into English from Norwegian texts.
Early career
Anna Gutto started her dedication to acting and story telling through the theater already as a child. Not letting herself be sidelined by the largest roles being for men, she spent her childhood years playing several male characters. Committed to a professional life in the theater, she went from school and community theater to the performing arts high school
Hartvig Nissen in Oslo. She made her professional debut in 1997 when directorStein Winge , artistic directorSvein Sturla Hungnes and set designerJohn-Kristian Alsaker chose her to play Solveig inPeer Gynt at theRiksteatret (The Norwegian State Theater) after fierce competition. She later received a two-year contract at"Teatret Vårt" inMolde , where she played roles such as Lady Anne in Richard III, Bianca inThe Taming of the Shrew , Nerissa inThe Merchant of Venice , and Maja in Prinsen og pryleguten. There, together withCarl Morten Amundsen , she also created the one-woman performanceFidel's Island for the 2000Molde International Jazz Festival . She has worked with award winning Scandinavian theater artists such asBjørn Sundquist ,Hilda Hellwiig ,Yngve Sundvor ,Sven Nordin ,Jan Grønli andSossen Krogh , among others. During her time inMolde she was also artistic director for the independent production ofThe Lover byHarold Pinter .Worked with Jon Fosse
Anna's work has particularly pinpointed the development of translation and adaptation as an important part of cultural enhancement. Miss Gutto was instrumental in bringing Norway’s most prominent contemporary playwright,
Jon Fosse [http://theater2.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/theater/reviews/21ibse.html] , to the United States. Fosse's plays have been staged all over the world but it was not until 2004 that the American audience experienced how this internationally renowned playwright has influenced modern theater with Anna's theater company Oslo Elsewhere's production ofNight Sings Its Songs [http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/rosm3894.htm] [http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?_r=2&res=9906E7DF1639F934A25755C0A9629C8B63&oref=slogin&oref=slogin] . In 2006 Anna Gutto was also instrumental in bringing a contemporary adaptation ofHenrik Ibsen ´sRosmersholm toNew York , allowing New Yorkers to take part in the 2006 international centennial celebrations of one of the world’s most produced playwrights.New York
Her first theatrical creation in New York was Pissing in the Wind which she co-wrote and directed for the 2002
New York International Fringe Festival . She did seven productions in the following years and in 2005 portrayed Simone in the production ofThe Workroom atManhattan Theatre Source . The production was later invited by the French Embassy to be part of theAct French Festival in New York City 2005. She was last seen as Rebecca West inRosmersholm at59E59 Theaters in New York. Other acting credits include The Young Woman in the US-premiere of Jon Fosse'sNight Sings Its Songs ,Boys' Life ,After the Fall ,Under Milk Wood ,Game of Patience andThe Physics Project .Films
She has performed in a variety of films. In her latest film being Gone With the Woman (Tatt av kvinnen), to premiere in September 2007, she acts alongside
Peter Stormare . The film is directed byPetter Næss (nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Foreign Film for his filmElling in 2002). Her other film credits includeMillennium Crisis , Poise, Anniversary, Exercises in Separation, Family Reunion andRebecca. Liliana .Essays/written works
Miss Gutto’s essays on theatrical work across borders and the art of translation and adaptation from one country to another have been published in industry publications such as the Norwegian Actors' Union's magazine (
Norsk Skuespillerforbund ) Stikkordet as well as Kunnskapsforlaget's bookIbsens kvinner (Ibsen 's Women) for which Norway's former Minister of CultureEllen Horn was editor. Her essays focus on the art of translation and adaptation beyond the linguistic challenges. Her essay fromIbsen 's Women describes her intentions, process and development of the adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's Rosmersholm for a contemporary American audience. Miss Gutto has also worked as translator/adaptor on plays such as Water bySheila Callaghan , The Lover byHarold Pinter andRosmersholm byHenrik Ibsen . For the latter she worked in collaboration with American playwrightBridgette Wimberly and Norwegian dramaturgeOda Radoor .Plays
Miss Gutto's plays include: Tid,
Fidel's Island (co-created withCarl Morten Amundsen ) and Pissing in the Wind. She is currently developing the new play IN SECURITY, where one can follow an accomplished doctor as she comes face to face with a choice that will affect the rest of her life. IN SECURITY is a comedic ripping view of a successful woman and her fear of commitment. It presents the insecurity at the core of human nature: the fear of losing oneself.Oslo Elsewhere
Anna Gutto is co-artistic director of [http://www.osloelsewhere.org Oslo Elsewhere] a theater company she founded with Norwegian-American director
Sarah Cameron Sunde in2004 , which is dedicated to the development of idiomatic translations and bridging the gap between contemporary Norwegian and American theater. After the run of the company's production of Night Sings Its Songs in 2004, Anna and Sarah were commissioned to create a performance forH.M.King Harald andH.M.Queen Sonja of Norway for theirNew York visit in February 2005 entitled Variations on a Theme. This performance event was created to celebrate the 100th anniversary since the dissolution of the union betweenNorway andSweden . The performance was a celebration of this peaceful separation, mixed with the stories of Norwegian immigrants to the US and performances of Norwegian artists living in New York.Miss Gutto's last project with Oslo Elsewhere was IBSEN+FOSSE2006, a double bill presentation of
Henrik Ibsen 'sRosmersholm alongsideJon Fosse 's deathvariations at59E59 Theaters inNew York City the summer of 2006. Gutto and Sunde recently travelled toNationaltheatret in Oslo together with directorTimothy Douglas to conduct translation/adaptation workshop readings of both plays with actors at Nationaltheatret as well asEarle Hyman .Oslo Elsewhere is planning to more productions of Jon Fosse and one of Henrik Ibsen over the next three years. The first one is Sa Ka La by Jon Fosse, scheduled to its US-premiere in New York in the fall of 2008.
The Unbound Theatre
The Unbound Theatre is aNew York based theatre company where Miss Gutto is co-artistic director together with Stephanie Davis. Their work ranges from remountingUnder Milk Wood byDylan Thomas and The Workroom byJean-Claude Grumberg to creating their own work. Their first production was Pissing in the Wind which Anna Gutto created and performed in alongside another founding memberJosh Bloch . Pissing in the Wind was presented at theNew York International Fringe Festival 2002. Miss Gutto is currently developing the new play IN SECURITY for the Unbound Theatre. IN SECURITY will have a workshop production in fall 2007 and a full production in 2008. The play will be produced also for touring. The play is developed in collaboration with filmmaker and video installation artistAnn Oren .Achievements and awards
Miss Gutto was awarded the 2-year Artist Working Grant from the Norwegian state (Arbeidsstipend for yngre kunstnere fra Statens kunstnerstipend). This 2-year grant is the highest distinction awarded to artists under the age of 35. She also received a travel grant in 1999, while working at “Teatret Vårt” in
Molde , and received the 2007 Cultural Award from American Scandinavian Society. While working at "Teatret Vårt" she was also a part of Kunstnerisk Råd (Council for Artistic Decision) at the theatre. Anna Gutto is a graduate ofCircle in the Square Theater School . She has also studied in master classes withSusan Batson ,Patrice Chereux ,Terese Hayden andJacqueline Brookes . Miss Gutto has been a member of The Norwegian Actors' Equity (Norsk Skuespillerforbund) since1998 and SAG (Screen Actors Guild ) since2006 .External links
*imdb name|id=2008031|name=Anna Gutto
References
* [http://www.aftenposten.no/kul_und/article1260758.ece "Tester Fosse og Ibsen på engelsk", from Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten]
* [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/kongelige/article981511.ece "Kulturfest for kongeparet", from Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten]
* [http://theater2.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/theater/reviews/21ibse.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1187018237-7+O9pRaILmLOtAK2koQz/w NY Times : Young Suicide in the Eyes of Norwegian Playwrights Old and New, Ibsen and Non-Ibsen]
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