Slapstick Street Theatre

Controversial – often political – topics are frequently on the agenda in this street theatre’s comic performances, which strive to do more than entertain.  At the same time, the theatre is solidly within the traditions of popular theatre with lots of slapstick and precarious stunts. Exquisite timing, a satirical acting style, and live music provide the right measure of comedy without eroding the underlying seriousness. The physical, non-verbal performances are intended for the entire family (6 years old and up).

‘Rakkerpak’ is an old Nordic epithet applied to undesirable and suspicious groups of poor travellers. “Dansk” simply means “Danish”. When the “rakkerpak” came to town, the locals took their washing indoors and guarded their daughters closely. Today, the locals do not fear the consequences, when the Dansk Rakkerpak comes to town. But the theatre guarantees a riot of laughter and fun.

Current Productions

Bokseren og Ballerinaen / The Boxer and the Ballerina
(Premiere June 2007)
Billy Elliot meets Million Dollar Baby. He dreams of becoming a ballet dancer, her deepest wish is to have a career in boxing – but unfortunately their parents have other ambitions for them.
”The Boxer and the Ballerina” is a non-verbal theatre show in comic style which is suitable for both indoor and outdoor performance. The show has an uplifting moral, a happy ending and contains a potent cocktail of original humour, affecting scenes, slapstick fun and equlibristic dance steps, with a dash of youthful daring, parental stubbornness, masculine grace, feminine strength and light-footedness.

Til døden jer skiller – en gadethriller / Till Death Do You Part - A Street Thriller
(2006)
In every way, bank clerk Holger Hermansen lives an ordinary, regular life.  Until his new neighbours, a genuine psychopath and a mysterious blonde shatter his suburban idyll. Soon, Holger Hermansen is enlisted in a dangerous game with deadly weapons and enticing cleavage.  A non-verbal, physical comedy with newly-composed music.

Skøre Strømere - Næse for knippelsuppe / Crazy Coppers – The Hit n’ Miss Squad
(2004)
Crazy Coppers is a hard-hitting uniformed police squad with funny noses, who may be called in wherever law and order are to prevail. The squad refrains from nothing in matters of national security. Not a performance in the traditional sense but a set of improvised scenes, adapted to the event, the location and the audience.

Rickshaw
(1999)
Non-verbal street theatre for the whole family.  A sweaty rickshaw driver with a backseat imperialist – the classic symbol of the supremacy of the white man over uncivilized foreigners.  Rickshaw is an easy-to-understand and funny story about exploitation and change.  Told in the international, physical idiom of the theatre, with humour at the pedals and serious insight firmly ensconced in the passenger seat. 

Review Extracts

”Starting with a well-appointed rickshaw, Dansk Rakkerpak delivers a sparkling slapstick performance. With Torkild Lindebjerg’s inventive staging, this modest – nearly wordless – narrative can absolutely be recommended for the whole family.”
Berlingske Tidende (DK), Rickshaw

"Just find a spot under the threetops and let Dansk Rakkerpak take care of the rest... "Til Death Do You Part" is a hilarius romantic thriller. A tale of marital boredom and romance over garden hedge, with happy deadly consequenses."
Information, Till Death Do You Part

“The humour is Laurel and Hardy. Direct, simple and elementally banal.  Children respond with laughter, and the comedy also strikes adult funny bones. It is a light and cheerful piece that Dansk Rakkerpak has sewn together. Straightforward and yet a bit out of the ordinary…. “
Børneteater Avisen (DK), Rickshaw

”Crazy Coppers caused confusion and outbreaks of laughter among the pedestrians and tourists in Gdansk. They struck with artificial police batons, searched people’s pockets, and posed for photographs.  This comic performance is based primarily on improvisation, and any pedestrian could become the Danes’ next ‘victim’.” 
Gazeta Wyborcza (Gdansk/PL), Skøre Strømere

International Tours

2007
September 29 - October 3: Golden Lion Festval, (Lviv/Ukraine), The Boxer & The Ballerina

2006
ANA DESETNICA Festival (Ljubljana/SI)
ANA DESETNICA Festival LENT (Maribor/SI)

2006 - Tour in Denmark
Israels Plads (Copenhagen/DK)
 
2005
FETA 2005 (Gdansk, PL)

2004
Trapezi 2004, La Fira del Circ de Catalunya (Reus/ES) 
Festival Internacional de Las Artes de Calle Valladolid (Valladolid/ES)
Theatre Without Roof (Vilnius/LT)