Everyone in the world has disappeared, except for six young people who are hiding downstairs in a bomb shelter. In order to find out, and understand, what has happened, they must face their own problems.
It is the plot of Frida Lund Kielland’s play, “Da alle vorsvant”, which premieres on Friday evening at Kulturhuset.
– In a way, it’s very scary, and I’m incredibly excited for tonight. The dress rehearsal yesterday didn’t go very well, but I’m betting that what they say in the theater world is true, and that the premiere will therefore be very good, says Kielland.
This is the second play she has written. Her first play “The Underworld’s Worst Asshole” had its premiere last year.
– Authors talk about “the difficult second book”. Was this “the difficult second piece” for you?
– It was both more difficult and easier. It was much easier to find the structure this time and know how to work, but it was still harder to write. The play last year was a comedy, while “Da alle vorsvant” has a much heavier theme and is about being young today. The characters are also more difficult to understand, says Kielland.
– Why did you choose to write a piece that you yourself find difficult?
– The idea came from a TV series I saw a long time ago, the name of which I can’t remember, where all the adults in the world disappeared. In my view, this is a metaphor for the fact that you really feel that you have no one around you, that you feel alone. It’s about mental health, and the six characters show different sides of it.
– Makes me feel whole
Kielland is part of Bifrost youth theater which she started together with Sol Isak Schackt last year, when they were 16 years old. The production has received support from Frifond, Tvibitstigen, Trafo and Kulturhuset in Tromsø.
– It actually started with us finding a project for the school at Kvaløysletta secondary school last year, but it grew too big for a school project. Sol started looking for money and support and all that, and then it went downhill. In the end, we gathered friends and others who wanted to join and started the theater group, says Kielland.
– Everything from scratch yourself?
– Yes. It didn’t quite occur to me that it was actually happening, until we suddenly got support and I had to finish the play. I remember the joy of having completed the project, it was an absolutely wonderful experience. Standing on stage receiving applause with the others in the group was one of the greatest joys I have felt. So I’m very happy that we’re doing it again this year, she says.
Kielland is the daughter of writer Endre Lund Eriksen, but she does not believe that you can inherit the desire to create from your parents. Mum and dad, on the other hand, have been a great support through it all.
– It is clearly a great resource to have a writer at home who can read over what you write and offer advice. But my desire to write actually comes from wanting to be an actor, which I discovered when I saw the musical “Hamilton” in London. At the same time, I have always written short stories, which mum and dad have encouraged and encouraged me to do. And now I write theatre, says Kielland and adds:
– For me, it’s about helping to create feelings and reactions in others. It makes me feel more whole myself, in a way.
Plays the villain in the play
As well as having written the play, Kielland is one of the six actors in the play. But it really wasn’t supposed to be like that.
– Actually, I was supposed to direct, but the authoritarian role did not come naturally to me. It felt difficult to direct actors who are older than me, cool people I really look up to. But then there were some actors who couldn’t take part anyway, and then I had to take over one of the roles. Then luckily Sam (journalist Rødseth Bang Hansson) appeared and was able to take over the direction, she says.
– Are there any of the characters you’ve written that you like more than others?
– I have come to love all the characters, and feel more strongly connected to them now after seeing them “come to life” than when I wrote them. But the favorite is perhaps Daniel, who I play myself. He is in a way the villain of the play, who is really in a lot of pain himself and takes it all out in a very ugly way. He is very difficult to understand.
– What has been the biggest challenge in making the play?
– Getting everything in place, everything from actors to making the scenes work correctly. In addition, it is a very intense and serious piece, and we have worked to introduce some humor and lightness into all the ugly and sad.
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