A BOOK THAT BECAME A PLAY THAT BECAME A BOOK

In the fall of 2024, the play *Guh lejmeh sámieh*/*When We Were Sámi*, based on Mats Jonsson’s graphic novel, premiered at the Västerbotten Theater. In 2025, the play was filmed and broadcast on Swedish Television, and in May 2026, the play was published as a book in Ume Sámi and Swedish.

In this conversation, we hear Mats Jonsson and playwright Tora von Platen reflect on the new dimensions that the Umesami language has brought to the original work, as well as the challenges that arose in the process of adapting the novel into a bilingual play.

Cast: Mats Jonsson and Tora von Platen
Organizers: Västerbottensteatern and Skellefteå City Library