GOTHENBURG ENGLISH STUDIO THEATRE

GEST presents the Swedish premiere of the award-winning and critically acclaimed The Events by David Greig, directed by Gary Whitaker.

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Claire, a liberal church minister, ran a community choir in a small seaside town. "...a choir that brought together vulnerable people, old people, asylum seekers, immigrant men, young mums and so on - it was a – the idea was - you can imagine." Claire desperately searches for understanding as to why a boy with a gun walked in to her choir rehearsal, resulting in devastating consequences. She becomes obsessed with the boy and the reasons for his actions. She looks for answers among the politicians that the boy associates himself with, his father, old classmates and, in the end, the boy himself. It's a journey that takes her to the edge of reason, politics and faith.

The Events has a strong relevance to today's development of far-right extremism in Sweden and Europe whilst also exploring how far forgiveness can stretch in the face of brutality.

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What makes this production so unique and thrilling is the fact that the actors was joined on stage by a live choir. We at GEST put together our own community choir in which the members represent 10 different nationalities. We were very excited to expand our work in the international community in Gothenburg and looked forward to working with such a diverse and talented group of people.

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Apart from our own choir we also collaborated with a variety established local choirs such as Örgryte Kyrkokör, the Majornakyrkan choir, two choirs with students from the music program at Hulebäcksgymnasiet, Svenska Vokalensemblen: Aoide, Sångkompaniet and Rabalder.

These choirs all have their own unique sound and add their own touch to each performance

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In May 2016, The Events was performed at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern in Stockholm.

Different local Stockholm choirs also joined us there: Årsta Ungdomskör, Årsta Kammarkör, Cantus Forum, Kummelby Gospel, Bella Donna and Collage-kören.

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"Extremely good, I was very, very taken by the play."  P4 Swedish Radio 

"A tight story about the scars after Utoya...It's not often you become horror movie scared

when going to the theatre. Like when your breath gets stuck in your throat and you flinch at the slightest sound...Rarely have I seen such a short play, just over an hour, with such density." Göteborgs-Posten (Click on the link to read the full review in Swedish)

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"The two actors complement each other clearly and they create a natural unity, driving and filling the stage with a magnetic force that drives the story forward. One feel emotionally drained after the performance. The story asks as many questions as it provides answers. It shows that evil is not always planned, whilst goodness is a perishable quality, which needs to be guided." Kulturbloggen