Actor Elin Skarin spent 73 hours straight in a cage on Konträr's stage in Stockholm. She directed the work "Actor in a cage" herself while the audience could influence with gifts and conversations.
Aim? To examine human being and social boundaries.
– What happens if I let the person Elin mix with the artist and actress Elin? What is what? And what kind of freedom is there that can be taken with the help of the theatre stage's contract," she says.
Went viral naked
Elin Skarin slept, ate and went to the toilet in the cage, and on some occasions she was even naked. The international media picked up on this, and soon naked Swedish actor in a cage was world news.
Now, just over a month after Elin Skarin stepped out of the cage, she can say that the work made her less nervous about her own performance, while at the same time she is surprised by the attention, which consisted of both applause and a lot of anger.
"The reactions afterwards show that there is a very strong patriarchy that makes me that I take this freedom," she says and continues:
"Those who have made the articles have not been angry. They have mostly written that it is bizarre and I find that surprising, because there have been much more extreme works of art made over time.
Little did you know it could go viral?
"No, certainly not.
Works without end
The crowd came and went between 09-23. Some sat for hours, others just peeked past. At night, it was possible to follow Elin Skarin at a stand outside the theater. She was only by herself for a total of thirty minutes during the entire piece – which continued long after she stepped out of the cage.
Is it continuing yet?
– Absolutely, this whole media circus! But the work has also continued in those who have been there. They have contacted us and talked about thinking about their own cage and what it is, says Elin Skarin and adds:
"I think the thesis somehow worked: is it possible to be free and investigate humanity with these rules.