Pressbild "Lyckan". Foto: Patrick Degerman

LUCKY

HAPPINESS – A magnificent performance about what makes the people of Skellefteå happy

What does happiness feel like? Where have you experienced happiness? When were you happiest?

LYCKAN is about Peter, who found love at the fair; about Yrsa, who has lived alone for many years; and Sven-Erik, who doesn't want to sit around cuddling on the sofa. About Hampus, who loves his stick; Maryam, who lost her words; and Jeanette, who longs to get away. LYCKAN is the beach where we swam, always having people around you, and being friends with an old lady.

The performance is a reflection on what happiness can be, and the result is like life itself: a bustling whirlwind of emotions, people, times, and places that move in parallel and sometimes cross paths. It tells of relationships, desires, and chaos. About the unfathomable, sad, and banal aspects of being human—and how joy often springs from the depths of despair. A vibrant movement and choral work about Skellefteå, now, then, and in the future.

Based on interviews with people in Skellefteå, LYCKAN weaves together different stories using movement, light, music, and text, creating a new universe for all these lives and events to exist in. Around eighty people aged 5-96 have contributed words and stories that have inspired a visual, physical, emotional, and humorous portrayal of the small and big moments in our lives. The performance is a free interpretation of all the material collected and is not a pure depiction of any real person.

On stage we see fifteen actors, professionals and amateurs. The director is Anne Jonsson, who is also a trained mime and choreographer - and works primarily with movement-based performing arts.

More about Anne Jonsson – As a freelance director and choreographer, Anne's work has been shown at Teater Tre, Backa Teater, Regionteater Väst, Unga Klara, and Zebradans, among others. At Teater Tre, Anne has directed and choreographed Peka, Trumma, Dansa (2014), Fåglarnas skolgård (2023), and DET KOMMER TIGRAR (2025).

Participants and production

Actors: Niklas Larsson Lirell, Ellenor Lindgren, Andreas Anterot, Nils Lundqvist, Emil Grudemo El Hayek, Firelle Najjar, Catrine Lundell, Irma von Platen.
Amateur actors: Hamzeh Alomari, Gruffydd Jones, Jenny Nilsson, Nicole Pettersson, Amélie Thompson, Jan Tarras-Wahlberg, Malte Åkerlund

Script (based on interviews) & dramaturgy: Tora von Platen
Director: Anne Jonsson
Stage movement, choreography: Anne Jonsson in collaboration with the ensemble
Set design & lighting design: Charlie Åström
Costume design & mask design: Helena Andersson
Composition & sound design: Matilda Bådagård, Maja Långbacka.
Assistant director: Lillemor Skogheden
Musicians: Karl Wallmyr, flugelhorn and trumpet. Kristofer Krydda Sundström, bass. Andreas Ekstedt, percussion
Sound: Björn Mårtensson
Lighting: David Larsson Skoog
Stage manager/carpenter: Niclas Andersson
SET PAINTER: Catarina Berglind
PROP MASTER: Nina Muhonen Marklund
TAILORS: Ulrica Marklund, Terese Larsson
SUFFLÉ: Maria Asserud

Thank you to all the other staff who worked to make this show possible!

Poster image: Lisalove Bäckman
PRESS PHOTOS: Patrick Degerman
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Johanna Salander
CEO & PUBLISHER: Challa Gustavsson

Thanks to

All interviewees who shared their stories.
Everyone who conducted the interviews.
Harald Larsen
Ylva Mårtens

Audience quote

⭐"If you're going to see anything on stage this year, it has to be LYCKAN. So hurry up before it ends. What a production! What an ensemble!" – Audience vote

⭐"It gives you so much! Go and see it, if you haven't already!" – Audience vote

⭐"The performance made me so happy!"⁠ – Audience vote

⭐"...a masterful, playful, highly physical, and utterly fascinating display of the art of capturing such a strange feeling as happiness in its ambivalent state, to say the least. It requires a contrast of total unhappiness in order to exist." – Audience vote

⭐"An absolutely wonderful performance; intense, understated, surprising, and intimate. A thought-provoking world where words, movement, facial expressions, and presence are intertwined with fantastic lighting, simple and functional set design, playful costumes, and beautiful, powerful music that weaves the events together. Go and experience it!” – Audience vote
⭐“The performance LYCKAN was deeply emotional and beautiful, and at the same time, I have never laughed so much in a theater.” – Audience vote
⭐“Such a damn good performance! ✨💖✨💖✨” – Audience vote

⭐"Thank you for an incredibly moving and entertaining performance" – Audience vote

Press clippings

PRESS RELEASE:

"After 75 minutes, the characters have become the audience's friends, and we would love to hear more of their stories... The actors offer an impressive range, with an emphasis on comedy. It's really funny..." – Norran

Charlie Åström is responsible for lighting design and set design, and he deserves a round of applause for his work. The lighting is impressive and creates much of the framing needed...
And then there are the unreasonably stylish parts, such as when the eight professional actors and seven amateur actors stand lined up behind a thin fabric that glitters in the stage lighting. Incredibly stylish, and we get that thanks to the cultural center that Skellefteå invested in." – VK