Denmark: An Ethnographic Performance on Happiness

Denmark
They are austere and reserved.
Their land is grey and damp.
They live on herring and dark rye bread.
And yet, they are ranked the happiest nation on Earth.
How on earth do they do it? What is the Danes’ secret?

Drawing from fifteen years of ethnographic research, collective Superamas answers these questions with a lecture-performance that is intellectually stimulating yet light on its feet. Happiness, it suggests, is not merely an individual responsibility – it is also, and perhaps above all, a choice made by society.

Skål!

Superamas

Superamas is a respected French theatre and performance collective founded in 1999, renowned for its innovative, provocative, and multidisciplinary approach. Their frequently uncategorizable performances unpack politics, media manipulation, and celebrity culture while blurring the lines between reality and virtuality. Superamas seeks to expose the performative dimension of reality, throwing light on the ways theatricality creeps into everyday life. The collective has performed at the 4+4 Days in Motion festival multiple times, presenting works such as BIG 3rd episode (happy/end) in 2007 and THEATRE in 2014.

Duration: 80 min
Language: French, with simultaneous interpretation into Czech

Written and directed by: Superamas
Performed by: Superamas
Set design and sound: Superamas
Lighting: Henri-Emmanuel Doublier
Outside eye: Diederik Peeters, Valéry Warnotte, Antoine Defoort
Administration: Valentine Spindler
Production: Superamas

Co-production: Le Manège-Maubeuge, scène nationale transfrontalière, La Maison du Théâtre d’Amiens

With the support of: Ministère de la Culture; Amiens Métropole; Institut français; Montévidéo, Marseille; Usine à Gaz, Nyon (CH); Buda Kunstencentrum, Courtrai (BE)