Theater
“77 messages to the futureâ€
By and directed by: Jacob Hirdwall. Scenography and costumes: Caroline Romare. Lighting: Peter Stockhaus. Choreography: Johanna Lindh. Cast: Filip Alexanderson, Anna Bjørk, Elin Klinga, Christopher Lehmann, Razmus Nyström, Tina Pour-Davoy, Nina Zanjani and others. Length: 1 hour 40 minutes. Stage: Dramaten, Lilla scen, Stockholm.
It starts commendably. Tina Pour-Davoy’s figure stands out against the projected image of a rotating moon. She is a reincarnation of the Dream Game’s Agnes, an innocent barefoot child about to descend to and gather testimonies from a world where the people are undeniably pitied . It is a beautiful and wistful setting for a play based on young people’s documentary stories about living in an ongoing climate crisis.
The director and playwright Jacob Hirdwall has, among other things, taken material from the international project We hear you – A climate archive, while the fund’s image flow of everything from melting ice to mining industries has been collected from another project.
We are under an existential threat but no one seems to care. It’s like trying to shout to deaf ears
We are presented with testimonies bursting with frustration. We know, but what do we do then? Or as Anna Björk’s party killer with the nickname Klimat-Cecilia states, we are under an existential threat but no one seems to care. It’s like trying to shout to deaf ears.
Photo: Søren Vilks
And screams, that makes “77 messages to the future†. No gunpowder is spared here. Dramatic veterans such as Elin Klinga and Anna Bjørk mingle with the stars of the younger guard and are flanked by young people from the city’s theater high schools. Fredrik Söderberg’s music pours on with an apocalyptic atmosphere while the dance numbers replace each other. Caroline Romare’s scenography places a thin break between us and the back of the stage, emphasizing what perspectives we have and not by narrowing and framing.
Sometimes the whole stands the stage room open for us, other times it cuts the ensemble to a bunch of lower bodies. At regular intervals, the light rig is turned towards the audience as if to make sure that we are still involved in that it is our future that is at stake.
Too often “77 messages to the future†has the feel of a project report. It is as if the degree of urgency has taken over the artistic claims. All contributors must be ticked off and the many stories sort of cancel each other out. When Razmus Nyström’s author at the end asks Tina Pour-Davoy’s Agnes, who is dancing out of climate anxiety, if it was too much, it is not without both her and us in the audience answers yes.
Read more scene reviews and more texts by Anna HÃ¥kansson.
