In the fall of 2024, fiddler and storyteller Thomas Andersson is back at Västerbottensteatern! "When Our Lord made Bygdsiljum and all the rest" is the story of how it all began and how it could be that it became what it became. The performance partly follows the course of events in the creation story but is set in our Västerbotten reality. During the Storytelling Festival, you have the chance to see this coveted gem!
The performance is presented in the form of a folk story as it is usually told in our part of the world. In it, between stars, suns, moons, angels, devils, gods, people, plains and mountains - there is room for music. And, of course, it is partly written and performed in the vernacular.
- In my worldview, the world did not come into being as it is written in Genesis. But when our Sunday school teacher at Bygdsiljum told the creation story in her lively way, it was true. You could just see our Lord shaping mountains, fields and rivers with his mighty hand. He went forth like a giant earth-moving tractor. And it was not in the Middle East or anywhere else. It was at home. And it was the truth. I was 7 years old and my Sunday school teacher's name was Nancy Tjärnström," says Thomas Andersson.
Thomas says he eventually realized that the fields were created by human effort. And the fact that he now wants to tell this story as a full-grown man, he says, is due to a penchant for fantasy.
- I believe in evolution. However, I think the creation story is a beautiful, powerful and poetic story - as long as you can do what you want to believe in it. And thankfully, we have religious freedom in our country. So you can believe in evolution and be open to spirituality at the same time.
Thomas also sees that in the creation story, God probably gave man more responsibility than he deserves and can handle.
- According to the creation story, man is a design of our Lord, a kind of invention. But it was probably like putting the goat in charge of the garden that man was given the task of managing creation. Since we are now well on the way to exterminating all other creatures and destroying the whole planet, the question must be asked whether there was something wrong with the design? This question is also discussed in the performance," concludes Thomas.
