When the ground beneath you vibrates like music and the scenery moves like feminine curves, you encounter Miss Max Maxine. Queer, in a landscape of breasts, placentas, umbilical cords, hair, overtones, and throat singing, she pounds the offspring out of the wall.
With a background in avant-garde theatre, dance and visual art, the project challenges conventional understandings of gender and power within a performative space.
Miss Max Maxine is a site-specific work in progress which will premiere in Summer 2026.
Scenographer and co-costume designer
Directing, script, concept and costume design: Henriette Blakstad
| Composer: Johan Sara Jr. | Light design: Desiree Bøgh Vaksdal
| Performers: Henriette Blakstad and Tuva Hennum
Performances:
» July 24, 2025: Månefestivalen, Det Grundmurede Provianthus (Fredrikstad, NO)
Co-produced by HenBlakstad, Studium Actoris and Grenland Friteater | Supported by Kulturrådet, Vestfold og Telemark Kunstsenter, R.E.D., Arctic and Oslo Pride, Kirkens Bymisjon and the Norwegian Defence Estates Agency
Photos: Harald Fossen | Teaser: https://vimeo.com/1113981592
Penistrollet
“Penistrollet” (“The Penis Troll”) is a concert performance about technology, artificial intelligence and the sensory, about the experience of lonelyness, inadequacy and love as a virtual and physical body. Accompanied by a fully analogue Penis troll, we are exploring healthy masculinity through a landscape of puppetry, dance and musical.
The performance is an attempt to close the chasm between our digital and carnal lives. As we long for the Ether, concretely as well as philosophically, we are investigating what putting this longing into action may do to us. Can we bring the Penis troll to consciousness, and what will happen if we succeed?
Scenographer, costume/figure and light designer, co-creator and producer
Script, lyrics and music composition: Hannah Karine Giske | Choreographer: Kristin Ryg Helgebostad | Sound design and co-composer: Knut Sævik | Performers: Hannah Karine Giske and Tuva Hennum
Performance: » February 13, 2025: Scenehuset (Oslo, NO)
Supported by Statens Kunstnerstipend, Fond for Lyd og Bilde and FFUK
“Tilbake til Ingenting” (“Returning to Nothing”) is the story about a mothers psychosis, and her struggle to emerge from this seemingly infinite darkness. With familiar narrative techniques of fairytales and parallels to Norse mythology, the audience is guided on a journey beyond Ingenting city limits, the border of the civilized world. The story is addressed to the mother’s children; an attempt to explain to them what happened that night when she suddenly disappeared.
The performance targets 9-11 year olds accompanied by their adults, but is also suitable for grown-ups on their own, daring children and those who enjoy music.
Scenographer, co-creator and producer
Created in collaboration with Normaliteten | Directing from the inside, script, costume design and co-scenography: Tuva Hennum
| Mask and puppet design: Maria Magdalena Auraaen Bjerkely
| Big puppet design: Ella Honeyman-Novotny | Light design: Nemanja Cado | Sound design: Matias Askvik | Performers: Tuva Hennum, Viktoria Winge and Nora Svalheim
Performances:
» January 24-28, 2024: Nordic Black Theatre & Cafeteatret (Oslo, NO)
» Performance agreement with The Freedom Theatre (Jenin, PS)
Supported by Kulturrådet and FFUK
Photos: Jurgis Bingelis, Yaniv Cohen og Ylva Owren | Video documentation: https://vimeo.com/913416938
Allayah
“Allayah” is a performance for the whole family, but most of all for the unborn children. Five cosmic renovation workers deal with the five stages of grief, in a composite of documentary theatre, ritual and large-scale scenic imagery. The performance addresses generational trauma and hereditary sin, in an attempt to break the destructive ties we have inherited, so that the next generation may be spared.
“Allayah” is the first chapter of En pentalogi om fattigdom (A pentalogy on poverty) - five plays about the whole family.
Scenographer and co-creator
Created in collaboration with Normaliteten | Directing from the inside, script, costume design and co-scenography: Tuva Hennum | Puppet design: Ella Honeyman-Novotny | Mask design: Maria Magdalena Auraaen Bjerkely | Performers: Tuva Hennum, Maiken Rye, Hannah Karine Giske, Thomas Hildebrand and Kjærsti Øverbø
Performances:
» November 23-25, 2022: Main stage KHiO (Oslo, NO) pre project
» June 7-8, 2023: Stage 3 KHiO (Oslo, NO)
» August 31, 2023: Oslo Fringe, SALT (Oslo, NO)
Produced by KHiO as Hennum’s MA Theatre project
Photos: Yaniv Cohen, Håkon Borg, Jurgis Bingelis and Ylva Owren
| Video documentation: https://vimeo.com/910783323
Bragernes ByLab
“Bragernes ByLab” is a part of the European research pro-ject CONflicts in TRAnsformation, whch utilizes mathods from participatory theatre to experiment with productive conflict in urban development. Based on concrete development projects in Drammen (NO), Gdynia (PL), Genk (BE) and Tilburg (NL), the DramaLabs facilitate meeting spaces where disagreement and conflict can be performed by citizens, developers and politicians from each of the affected cities.
In Drammen, the DramaLab was embodied into a participatory sound walk and a series of conversation formats exploring perspectives for and against the demolition of the soon to be vacated hospital plot in Bragernes district.
Scenographer and facilitator
Drama partner: Marthe Sofie Løkeland Eide | Rearearch leader: Cecilie Sachs Olsen | Facilitators: Marthe Sofie Løkeland Eide, Cecilie Sachs Olsen, Andrea Vik, Jenny Mood and Sofie Esther Larssen
DramaLabs: » May 2-11, 2023: Børresen Skole (Drammen, NO)
Co-produced with OsloMet, University of Warsawa, University of Antwerp, Tilburg University and each of the project muncipalities | Supported by JPI Urban Europe
Photos: Lucas Leonardo Ibanez-Fæhn
Glassmenasjeriet
“Glassmenasjeriet” (“The Glass Menagerie”) is a deep dive into the limited world of Laura Wingfried, a room reigned by glass figurines and where the risk of falling is literally too big.
The pre-project is a material study of methods to build an installative and vulnerable performance space that is as bound to failure as Laura’s menagerie. The project attempts a scenography driven approach to theatre directing, where four different types of artificial and associative glass were introduced as spatial dialogue partners to the performers.
The project is based on some aspects of Tennessee Willams’ theatre play by the same name.
Scenographer and artistic leader
Co-creating performers: Tuva Hennum and Yaniv Cohen
Project period: » May 2021 - April 2022
Supported by Kulturrådet and Statens kunstnerstipend
Photos: Ylva Owren
Normaliteten
“Normaliteten” (“Normalcy”) is a dark comedy about the statistically normal. The piece investigates where we as a society place the borders between the ordinary, the normal and the abnormal. On stage, the widespread deviations are shaped into a nuclear family enveloped in sexual, physical and psychological violence. The audience is invited into a home with an omnipresent lack of communication, but where the dreams far transcends the invisible walls, their self-knowledge and their perseverance.
The theatre piece is accompanied by a compilation of short prose under the headline “Hverdagspoesi” (“Everyday Poetry”). The texts are written by the artistic team and revolve around observations and memories from childhood, adolescence and early adulthood on a quest to find connections between the grand world and the petite human being. It’s about experience and crossing borders, or about negating experience and refusing to accept the existence of limitations.
Scenographer, co-director, graphic designer and producer
Created in collaboration with Normaliteten and Judith Humer | Dramaturge: Judith Humer | Playwright: Tuva Hennum | Mask design: Maria Magdalena Ly Auraaen | Performers: Tobias Aksdal, Hannah Karine Giske, Tuva Hennum and Benjamin Lønne Røsler
Performances:
» July 11-13, 2019: Nordland Teater (Mo i Rana, NO)
» February 8, 2020: Vinterlys (Mo i Rana, NO)
» September 27 - October 1, 2023: GSF Scene (Oslo, NO)
Co-produced by Nordland Teater (Mo i Rana, NO) | Supported by Kulturrådet, Fritt Ord and Norsk Skuespillersenter
Photos: Thor Lønning Aarrestad | Video documentation: https://vimeo.com/810872946
1968
“1968” departs from the 50 year anniversary of the student riots, and poses questions about where we have gotten to today, and where we will be 50 years into the future. Inspired by the Happenings and performance art of the 1960’s, the theatre space is separated into a ground floor and a loft. Upstairs, the audience is invited to take part in a journey through a series of conversation formats concerning fears, hope, action and influence.
Scenographer, co-director, concept developer and co-light designer
Created in collaboration with by Proxy | Performers: Janna Horstmann, Lucas Hupfeld and by Proxy | Dramaturge: Anna Gojer
Performances:
» November 22 - December 2, 2018: Theater Freiburg (Freiburg, DE)
Produced by Theater Freiburg (Freiburg, DE) | Supported by Baden-Württemberg Stiftung
Photos: Bastian Kabuth
Volksoper
“Volksoper” is an experimental pop-up opera festival for people who do not usually go to the opera. Half of the festival program was presented in the theatre’s event venue “Passage 46”, and the other half was presented in the Opera Annex - a free standing and temporary opera house built specifically for the festival.
All performances presented in the Opera Annex dealt in different ways with the status of women in the traditional opera machinery. Strategically placed right outside the theatre’s main entrance, the annex provided a temporary sanctuary for artists, stories and discussions that are not welcomed onto the main opera stages.
Artistic director, concept developer, curator and designer of the Opera Annex. Co-graphic designer. Concept and costume design for “It’s not over until the soprano dies”
Created in collaboration with by Proxy, Lærke Grøntved, Mareike Dobewall, Mari Askvik and singers, performers and musicians from Freiburg Festival: » July 5-8, 2018
Produced by Theater Freiburg (Freiburg, DE) | Supported by Baden-Württemberg Stiftung and FFUK
Photos: Mareike Dobewall, Lærke Grøntved and by Proxy
Stedsans
“Stedsans” is a walkabout performance through the alleyways of Odense. In every nook and cranny the audience is presented with musical, textual, visual and performative pieces developed in collaboration with and performed by volunteers from the city. As the walkabout unfolds the audience develops a heightened sensitivity to their surroundings, and the borders between the planned performance and the daily life of the city itself starts to blur. In the coldest and least friendly time of the year, the streets open up and becomes alive.
Scenographer, co-director, concept developer and performer
Created in collaboration with by Proxy, Geddy Aniksdal and Lars Vik | Project leader: Ann Sofie Fabricius | Contributors: 100 volunteers from Danseakademiet City Ballett, Seniorblæserne, Fjordagerscenen, Spillestedet, Samtalesalon for Kvinder, free group for breakdance and parkour, Det Fynske Kammerkor, Kosmos and the city
Performances:
» January 31 - February 7, 2018: Teater Momentum/Odense city (Odense, DK)
Co-produced by Teater Momentum (Odense, DK) and Grenland Friteater (Porsgrunn, NO)
Photos: Dag Jenssen
Lugten af andre
“Lugten af andre” (“The Fragrance of Others”) studies loneliness through the seemingly merry and social lens of Christmas. With humour as a life jacket we attempt to wipe away our tears with laughter, and test if we, together, dare to acknowledge loneliness as a social phenomenon.
Scenographer, prop master, co-light designer, co-creator and performer
Developed in collaboration with by Proxy | Director: Marie Nikazm
Bakken | Costume design: Katrine Hoffmann | The Christmas house is an upcycled version of TV2 Fyns Tour de France studio from 2017
Performances:
» November 25 - December 21, 2017: Teater Momentum (Odense, DK)
Produced by Theater Momentum (Odense, DK) in 2017
Photos: by Proxy
Os“Os” (“Us”) is a performance for youth about group affiliation and identity. Starting from the members of by Proxy’s social identities as women, men, gay and white, our perception of reality and self is explored. The subjects constantly move between the uncomfortable, embarrassing, provoking and humorous as we discover and challenge our (often unconscious) prejudices of other social groups. How do we judge and communicate differently with different people, based on their gender identity, sexuality and race?
Throughout the piece, the audience members have access to a personal light switch which controls a random roof lamp. The lamps function as an extension of the spectator, who through a flick of the switch can express their opinion on confronting statements made during the show. The individual remains anonymous, while the opinions of the audience as a mass becomes visible. How many in the space believes in God? How many supports euthanasia? Are our immigration politics too strict?
Scenographer, co-director, co-light designer and performer
Created in collaboration with by Proxy
Performances:
» September 30 - October 21, 2017: Teater Momentum (Odense, DK)
» May 31 - June 1, 2018: CPH Stage, KU.BE (Copenhagen, DK)
» February 11-20, 2019: Den kulturelle skolesekken (Oppland, NO)
» March 4-8, 2019: Listaleypurin (Faroe Islands, FO)
Produced by Teater Momentum (Odense, DK)
Photos: by Proxy
Voiceland
“Voiceland” is a site-specific live choir installation. 17 singers construct a world that solely consists of vocal sounds, while the audience can move around freely to shape their own experience. The first version of the piece was presented in Hjalteyri’s defunct herring factory, which now functions as a gallery and culture house.
Scenographer, costume- and makeup designer
Director and librettist: Mareike Dobewall | Composer: Gísli Jóhann Grétarsson | Conductor: Eyþór Ingi Jónsson | Choir: Hymnodia
Performances:
» September 1-2, 2017: A! Featival, Verksmiðjan (Hjalteyri, IS)
» November 3, 2018: Óperudagar, Gömlu Kartöflugeymslurnar (Reykjavik, IS)
Co-produced by A! Festival and Verksmiðjan (Hjalteyri, IS)
Photos: Mareike Dobewall
Escape the Universe
“Escape the Universe” is an artistic thought experiment, driven by the urge to create a poetic escape room, a space in which science, fantasy and fiction merge and collide. Inside a strictly facilitated open space the audience members meet both performers and each other. They talk, listen, draw, interact and observe as we collectively gather the last pieces of information before the final take-off into our utopian ideas of the future. The performance is an escape, and a genuine attempt to approach this seemingly infinite and incomprehensible organism that is the universe. In a performative celebration of cosmic dimensions, the performers and the audience start to uncover which values mean the most, here and now, in life on earth.
Scenographer, co-director and performer
Created in collaboration with by Proxy | Costume design: Henrik Wilhelm Johansen
Performances:
» March 16-18, 2017: Åbne Scene, Godsbanen (Aarhus, DK)
» March 23-24, 2017: Theater Oberhausen (Oberhausen, DE)
» March 29-30, 2017: Black Box Teater (Oslo, NO)
» February 17-21, 2018: Teater Momentum (Odense, DK)
» April 7-8, 2018: AvantGarden (Trondheim, NO)
» April 13-14, 2018: Studio USF, BIT Teatergarasjen (Bergen, NO)
Co-produced by BIT Teatergarasjen (Bergen, NO), Theater Oberhausen (Oberhausen, NO), Grenland Friteater (Porsgrunn, NO) and Godsbanens Åbne Scene (Aarhus, DK) | Supported by Kulturrådet, FFUK, Aarhus municipality and Körber Stiftung
Photos: Julian Rauchfuss and by Proxy
Stop Being Poor
“Stop Being Poor” is a loud meditation on capitalism and the collective anxiety caused by this system. In a competitive market where anyone can be replaced at any time, there exists an almost inevitable lifecycle: Work - Consume - Die. Just like the ‘50s demanded hard unvaried labor from its workers, our working life today values acceleration, non-stop availability and a sincere smile.
“Stop Being Poor” investigates the efforts we make to tuck away our anxiety and submerge our demons and fears, while continuously staying on top and ahead of everything in the omnipresent competitivity of modern day capitalism. The piece plays with game and power structures, and the audience as an integral witness.
Scenographer, co-director and performer
Created in collaboration with by Proxy | Artistic consultants: Lisa Lie and Siri Langdalen
Performances:
» May 27-29 2015: Norwegian Theatre Academy (Fredrikstad, NO)
» June 10, 2015: Thalia Theater (Hamburg, DE)
» September 7, 2015: DISKURS Festival (Gießen, DE)
» November 21, 2015: Fast Forward Festival (Braunschweig, DE)
» March 4-5, 2016: Theater Oberhausen (Oberhausen, DE)
» March 8-9, 2016: Münchner Kammerspiele (Munich, DE)
» May 6-8, 2016: Åbne Scene, Godsbanen (Aarhus, DK)
» May 26, 2016: Nordic Performing Arts Days (Torshavn, FO)
» June 1-2, 2016: Det Frie Felts Festival (Copenhagen, DK)
» September 23, 2016: The House and the Lights, K60 (Fredrikstad, NO)
» September 9, 2017: GogolFest, Theatre on Podil (Kyiv, UA)
» February 10-14, 2018: Teater Momentum (Odense, DK)
» September 24, 2018: DDSKS (Copenhagen, DK)
Produced by Norwegian Theatre Academy (Fredrikstad, NO)
Winner of the directing award Körber Studio Junge Regie 2015
Photos: Kraft Angerer and Jan Hajdelak Hustak Trailer: https://vimeo.com/170289619
Sound of Silence
“Sound of Silence” explores the Norwegian weapon industry and critically assesses the tendency not to discuss its impact on Norway’s economy. It is striking that Norway’s long history of weapon technology is absent from the Norwegian Museum of Technology and Science, somehow mirroring the society itself.
Considering the fact that museums are still arenas of power and knowledge, we started to question if there is a way for museums to not only be a vessel to show off spectacular national developments in technology and science. Is there a possibility for a different approach to these topics, for creating an arena for open discussion? For creating an arena for active democracy?
Initiator and co-creator
Created in collaboration with Matias Askvik and Ann Mirjam Vaikla
| Material: Plaster, plywood
Exhibited:
» September - October 2014: The Norwegian Museum of Technology and Science (Oslo, NO)
» March 2015: Artaud Forum 4, Brunel University (London, UK)
Developed for The Norwegian Museum of Technology and Science (Oslo, NO) in collaboration with the Norwegian Theatre Academy
Photos: Ann Mirjam Vailka
The Glass Menagerie
How can something as mundane as a glass figurine become an obsession? Is their company hidden in the material or the numbers? Is there beauty in the fragile, and is there signifigance?
Creator
Inspired by “The glass menagerie” by Tennessee Williams
| Material: 624 glass animals made with lampworking technique
Exhibited: » June 2012: Strykejernet Kunstskole (Oslo, NO)
Installation created at Strykejernet Kunstskole (Oslo, NO)
Photos: Ylva Owren
Lovers Reading
“Lovers reading of each others bodies differs from the reading of written pages in that it is not linear.”
After any sexual act there is a moment of reflection, of cleansing, of self nurturing. We rid ourselves of each others bodily fluids, and move on.
Creator
Material: 200 wine glasses, soap, 6 women
Photographic installation developed at Strykejernet Kunstskole (Oslo, NO) in 2012
