An unborn child looks at its possible future parents. They are members of reindeer herding families that are falling apart. The child looks back in time to find out why, and starts doubting whether there really is a place for it in the future.
After the party everything is changed. Lajla notices it right away. Sara’s eyes are empty, she is afraid of the dark, afraid of her own shadow. And even though Lajla promised not to interfere, she just can’t leave it alone. She must find the person responsible.
A play for teenagers and young adults.
Premiere in 2023.
LAJLA
I'm not the main character in this story.
Not really.
But I'm the one who tells it.
So then it's me who decides, in a way, who matters and who does not.
The girl over there.
Pointing to Sara
She's my best friend.
And this whole story is about her.
And if you had asked her, before it all begins, who she is, she would have answered something like this:
SARA
My name is Sara.
I am going to be a doctor.
I'm best in class in math and science.
And guitar.
But it's just a hobby.
That's all, I think ...
Yes, also, that I live with my aunt because my mother is not feeling well at the moment.
That's fine, that's it.
Everyone can have a hard time at times, right?
LAJLA
And you also have a boyfriend.
SARA
That is right.
His name is Lemet.
My best friend, Lajla, hates him.
LAJLA
I don't hate him.
I just think ...
Well, that you deserve better, at least.
SARA
Lemet is nice to me.
You don't know what he is like when it's just the two of us.
LAJLA
Yes, Lemet is probably okay when it's only him and Sara.
But around everyone else, he acts like a spoiled brat.
He dropped out of high school last year.
He now works part-time at the local supermarket.
And don't tell Sara that I said this, but he has greasy hair all the time.
And she's much prettier than he is.
Just look at her.
Pointing to Sara
And look at him!
Pointing to Lemet
LEMET
Unhappy facial expression
I don't understand what's wrong with working at the supermarket.
A family welcomes an underaged refugee. She has experienced war. Soon her presence reveals the flaws and dysfunctions within the family space.
Translated to English and French.
A family of four escapes from war, imprisonment and insecurity. But the peacefulness that meets them in the new country is deafening in a completely different way.
For when everything is in order, and life is finally to be lived, a different kind of struggle starts. They must fight to settle and accept the memories of their homeland.
Premiering at the National Theater in Norway the 14th of March 2020. Cancelled due to the pandemic, and transformed into a audio drama in January 2021.
SHE
I don't understand this place.
It's too calm.
THE MAN
Isn't that nice?
SHE
Yes, but there is something lurking behind it.
And Alice, the girl our daughter is playing with -
THE MAN
They are just children.
SHE
You don't understand.
THE MAN
What don't I understand?
SHE
It's too quiet here.
I do not believe in this silence.
It's a camouflage.
A diversion.
And look, there's Alice!
Now they are running towards the forest again -
That's not how it should be.
THE MAN
You have to sit down for a moment.
Relax.
SHE
Yes.
Silence
And I should make some tea soon.
I'm going to start arranging the kitchen.
Maybe get some seeds.
Plant some herbs.
I will do that.
If only our daughter could stay inside -
I just cannot let her run outside like that.
From the beginning of the 19th century until well into the 20th century, tribes and indigenous peoples, including the Sami, got sent on tours in Europe and the United States. In traditional clothing, with the tipi and reindeer, they were exhibited in zoos for curious inquisitors. In Human Zoo, we follow a Sami family's journey from open plains to enclosed areas, which are getting increasingly narrower and narrowerr. The relationship between mother and father is bad. Grandma has started coughing a lot. The son is tormented by the spectators. And the daughter is asking the questions the parents have difficulty answering. The narrower the room outside, the clearer the conflicts between family members become.
The Sami National Theater Beaivvas is putting up Human Zoo in 2019, the premiere taking place at the National Theater in Oslo on the 4th of October.
Translated to Sami language.
A mother, her son and her daughter are trying to live their everyday life in the father’s absence. He’s a political rebel and has gone into hiding. However, the government won’t let the mother be, and she gets called into the police again and again. One day she doesn’t return at all. How will the family cope? What does the struggle for democracy cost on a personal level?
In order to ensure Norwegian sovereignty in the northernmost areas of the country, Norwegian authorities closed down rural schools and built new, larger boarding schools. Thus, at an early age Sami, Kven and Norwegian children were forced to move from their home to these schools, where they were forbidden to speak their native language. This play is based on testimonies from parents, children and teachers who were strongly affected by the Norwegian authorities' assimilation policy.
Reading at the Norwegian Drama Festival in June 2017. Reading in Konstanz, Germany in 2019. Premiere in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2020.
Translated to Swedish.
Finnmark (The northernmost county of Norway) 1944-1945. The Second World War is approaching its end. The Russians are on their way. Hitler orders the use of the Scorched Earth tactics in the North of Norway. Seven voices tell their stories from this period in time.
Premiered at the Norwegian Drama Festival in 2015.