The Moving Energy Theatre, WINDerful Lights Act in Viking Energy Windfarm. Photo: Deep Time Agency & John Coutts.

This work was developed within Deep Time Agency and in collaboration with curator Anna Tudos in the context of the Shetland Islands, UK

Team: Deep Time Agency (Miriam Sentler and Wouter Osterholt) & Anna Tudos, Marcus Nicolson (assistance), John Coutts (photography), Daniel Shailer from the Shetland Times (reporting & interviewing)

Thanks to Gaada, Shetland Museum & Archives, Brian Smith, the Up Helly Aa Committee, Jon Pulley, Gilly Bridle & Sew Far North, Antonia Thomas, The Shetland Times

Research developed during an EARTH scholarship (sponsored by the British Research Council, UK) and within my Ph.D. project at the University of Oslo, NO

Sponsored by the Mondriaan Fund, NL

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(2025) Performative Intervention, Archival Reenactment, Analogue and Digital Photography, Publication (forthcoming)

Shetland is a Scottish archipelago that lies approximately 480 kilometres north of Edinburgh and 320 kilometres west of Bergen, on the crossroads between Norway, Scotland, and the Faroe Islands. Shetland houses Sullom Voe, one of the biggest oil terminals in Europe. During peak times, up to 1.5 million barrels of oil enter the archipelago daily from the oil platforms in the North Sea, to be stored in underground containers and shipped to destinations worldwide. The archipelago is also a major player in wind and tidal energy, with Viking Energy installing 103 wind turbines on the Shetland mainland in August 2024 and a variety of tidal energy experiments happening in and around the Yell Sound on the northern islands of Shetland.

The ways these industries have changed island life and natural environments throughout history are often discussed, performed, and criticized by members of the Shetland community. An example are the short theatre acts that happen in the framework of the carnivalesque Up Helly Aa festival. A handful of historical acts from between 1972 and 2003 found in the Shetland Archives and the Up Helly Aa Committee Archive reference the energy industry through a critical lens and a specific aesthetic, marked by costumes, props, songs, and so on. The Moving Energy Theatre uses re-enactment and performative intervention to bring back and revive 8 selected energy acts from Shetland’s archives that took place in Shetland’s famous Up Helly Aa festival in the last 50 years.

For this purpose costumes and props were recreated and placed back into the industrial environments the acts once spoke about, letting interactions around them unfold spontaneously. In this way, the costumes become tools for contemporary discussion about what roles these energy industries play in the Shetlanders’ lives nowadays. TMET toured the Shetland Islands in June and July 2025.

 

Energy Act #1: Shel(l)tie
(1978/2025)

_{“The squad represented the well-known oil firm. Six members were dressed as the character seen on the tv advertisement and the remainder in bright yellow boiler suits with various Shell insignia attached. Cars describing various oil firms had a race with many mishaps.”} 

^{- News reporter, The Shetland Times, “What the Squads Did and How they Looked Like”,
Friday 3 February 1978.}

^{Photo: Up Helly Aa Committee Archive.}

Energy Act #2: WINDerful Lights
(1983/2025)

_{“These guizers in Fair Isle jumpers had croft houses, a lighthouse, and a church for heads. Three engineers brought in a windmill and when they got it going the lights in the building came on. But the windmill exploded, plunging the buildings into darkness again.”}

^{- News reporter, The Shetland Times, “What the Squads Did and How they Looked Like”,
Friday 28th of January 1983.}

Energy Act #3: Sting in the Tail
(2003/2025)

_{“The setting is Yell Sound, and the Stingray tidal generator enters the hall accompanied by two scientists to begin a test phase. Once assembled they monitor its performance and Tom Stove and Peter Malcolmson arrive to award the team a prize for their work. Happy with their success the scientists are unaware of two hideous sea creatures called aquaphibians observing the generator. These scary sea creatures armed with spectacular guns have only one problem- if they stay out of the water for long, they begin to lose the use of their legs and are unable to walk in a straight line. With the flick of a fin, they signal the rest to attack and with a bang the aquaphibians burst in and chase the councillor and scientist away. They then perform a victory dance on the generator (…)}

^{- News reporter, The Shetland Times, “What the Squads Did and How they Looked Like”,
Friday 31st of January 2003.}

Energy Act #4: Da Freefield Arabs
(1983/2025)

_{Unknown (news reporter missed the act)}

^{- News reporter, The Shetland Times, “What the Squads Did and How they Looked Like”,
Friday 28th of January 1983.}

Energy Act #5: Dales Voe Raiders
(1983/2025)

<sub>“An up-to-date version of the Viking theme, modern-day raiders, dressed in blue thermal wear, red kirtles, gold cloaks and adorned with safety helmets, spanners and welding torches, dragging an oil rig instead of a galley descend on Dales Voe to the tune of “The Norseman’s Home” followed by a lusty rendering of:

“Gae hame wi de hame Ertie
(go home, go home Ertie)

Tae come tae Dales Voe doos no blate
(to come to Dales Voe you aren’t shy)

Fir we want wir Voe keepit bonny
(because we want our Voe to be beautiful)

No coarse lik da back o’ a skate”
(not horrible like the back of a skate)”</sub>

^{- News reporter, The Shetland Times, “What the Squads Did and How they Looked Like”,
Friday 27th of January 1984.}

Energy Act #6: BP Pigs
(1979/2025)

_{“Recent pipeline testing by the oil industry using Pipeline Inspection Gadgets (PIGs) was used by the squad to illustrate the problems when a pig gets stuck in the pipeline. Twelve members were dressed in pig costume complete with large head and snout. Two were dressed as oil technicians, who, after failing to persuade the pig through the pipeline, had to call for assistance which came in the form of the Muppet pig – Miss Piggy – who danced seductively before the entrenched pig who immediately shook himself free and gave chase to miss Piggy followed by the remainder of the pigs and two confused boffins.”}

^{- News reporter, The Shetland Times, “What the Squads Did and How they Looked Like”,
Friday 2nd of February 1979.}

Energy Act #7: Ness Monstrosities
(1976/2025)

_{“A reference to both the recent furore about the Loch Ness monster and about the proposals to put oil in underground caverns on Calback Ness, this squad appeared as a team of monsters each bearing the legend “Loch Ness Migrants – Calback Ness Caverns Dweller.” Members wore long black necks topped by dragon type heads in green and yellow, with black bodies and yellow spots. Fins and flippers completed the suit.”}

^{- News reporter, The Shetland Times, “What the Squads Did and How they Looked Like”,
Friday 30th of January 1976.}

Energy Act #8: Small Fry in Oil
(1973/2025)

_{“A reference to an exchange between two local businessmen, this act hinged on the words of a verse sung to the tune of “The Norsemen’s Home.” The story goes that, asked how his business was faring, a local businessman replied: “I’m in oil now.” “Ah yes” replied his acquaintance. “But so are sardines, and they’re just small fry.” The squat were dressed as sardines – with fibreglass heads – and they circled the hall singing the wittily constructed verse with gusto.”}

^{- News reporter, The Shetland Times, “What the Squads Did and How they Looked Like”,
Friday 2nd of February 1973.}