Unga Klara & Uppsala Stadsteater
They will drown in their mothers' tears
It all starts with a terrorist attack. Three young Islamists break into a comic book store. Armed with bomb vests and machine guns they plan on killing a cartoonist known for his provocative caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. The attack fails, and two of the terrorists die. The third survives and is placed in a forensic psychiatric institution. She claims that she comes from the future - a future where the terrorist attack succeeded and led to a fascist Sweden. Two years after the attack a well-known author visits the girl in the institution. The girl hands the author a bundle of paper, where she has written a peculiar story.
The future that the girl in the institution depicts is a dystopia where the Swedish authority forces the citizens to sign a citizen contract that makes it illegal to eat kosher or halal and to own certain books. If you break the contract you become an Enemy of Sweden and get placed in a camp, to be assimilated. The only food served in the camp is pork. If you try to escape, you die.
The novel "They will drown in their mothers' tears" by Johannes Anyuru is a science fiction thriller about hope and hopelessness in today's Europe, about friendship and betrayal, and about the mechanisms of terror and fascism. The book, released in 2017, was a big success among both critics and readers, was rewarded with Augustpriset, and has been translated to many different languages.
Playwright and director Farnaz Arbabi, who previously have dramatized stories from a historical perspective, now moves to theories of the future. What does the tomorrow we create today look like? What can we learn from looking backward and forward in time? Is it possible to time travel and thereby stop a catastrophe from happening? They will drown in their mothers' tears portray the fear many of us feel about the growing populism and extremism. It is a highly topical story about nationalism, fear, and radicalization.
They will drown in their mothers' tears are a collaboration with Uppsala Stadsteater.
International touring
They will drown in their mothers' tears is an ensemble piece in two acts, aimed at people 16 years and older. It will do a small tour in Sweden and is suitable for both black-box venues and proscenium theatres.
Watch online
"They will drown in their mothers' tears" was one of the selected performances at Swedstage 2020. Now you have the opportunity to see the performance streamed for 100 SEK. Performances are translated with English subtitles, directed by Farnaz Arbabi after the August Award-winning novel by Johannes Anyuru! Link for tickets and streaming
About Unga Klara
Unga Klara was formed in 1975, at the time as a division of Stockholm City Theatre, and has since then led world-renowned explorative activities in the dramatic arts with a focus on the conditions of children and young people. Suzanne Osten founded the company and was its Artistic Director between 1975-2013.
Unga Klara has explored what constitutes dramatic art from the approach that a young audience is naturally entitled to the same high level of artistic quality as an adult audience. Based on the conviction that we can best express a positive outlook on life by speaking truthfully about its complexity, Unga Klara has tackled serious topics in a playful form, and has combined the heavy with the light, has explored, examined and developed ideas with test audiences.
Since 2009 Unga Klara has been independent from the Stockholm City Theatre. Following its independency, The Swedish Arts Council investigated Unga Klara and proclaimed the theatre to be of great national and international importance.
Ensemble: Ester Claesson, Astrid Kakuli, Robin Keller, Rita Lemivaara, Bashkim Neziraj, Nina Rashid, Davood Tafvizian and Tina Pour Davoy.
After novel by: Johannes Anyuru
Script and direction: Farnaz Arbabi
Set design: Jenny Kronberg
Costume design: Elin Hallberg
Makeup design: Erika Nicklasson
Light design: Johan Sundén
Music: Mikael Karlsson
Dramaturgs: Marie Persson Hedenius and Jens Ohlin
Assistant Director: Klara Gattbro
Prop maker: Sofia Andersson
Graphic design: Parasto Backman
Photo: Mats Bäcker
Target group Young Adults/Adults
Duration 2h 45 min
Contact: Producer Sara Fors sara@ungaklara.se
www.ungaklara.se