Pelikanen is a musical reinterpretation of Strindberg's classic chamber play from 1907. A creepy piece about the worst thing imaginable: a mother who would rather drink champagne, go out dancing, and seduce younger men than take care of her children. In short: a mother who does not love her children. Yikes!
In addition to drawing inspiration from Strindberg's drama, the performance has been inspired by the painful, contemporary discourse on parenthood. Has any generation been so preoccupied with the quality of parenthood, so torn about it, or so plagued by guilt?
The show premiered at and in collaboration with Strindberg's Intima Teater on September 7, 2024, and was performed at Reginateatern in Uppsala and Folkteatern in Gothenburg in October of the same year.
Pelikanen was written by the Uppsala-based duo Dag Thelander and Per Wickström, who are also behind the critically acclaimed musicals Trollkarlen från Chicago, Vansinnets historia, and Jernbanan.
"The mother monster captured in a delightful cabaret... takes shape with both seriousness and great enthusiasm"/ Loretto Villalobos, SvD
"A powerful and entertaining take on one of August Strindberg's most bitter portrayals of women" / Susanne Sigroth Lambe, Uppsala Nya Tidning
"A very good, fine, tight production... they must be knighted!" / Kritcirkeln (podcast, Aftonbladet Kultur)
“This absolute gem of musical absurdism… heightened the ridiculousness of Strindberg whilst creating an aesthetic and comedic world that really drew you in as an audience. And throw in some absolute belter songs? Perfection.” / Matthew Short, blog matthewsdramaturgy.com
"hasall the makings of becoming the free group's definitive breakthrough. It is difficult to find anything so well crafted, with such beautiful music, such high-quality theater artistry, and such near-perfect performances by the actors" / Bo-IngvarKollberg, blog sidstycken.com
"Highly competent performance... the audience, thoroughly entertained, willingly eats out of the ensemble's generous hands. The humor and seriousness are portioned out so effectively that we finally realize that with the comical sugar spoon, we have also ingested a good dose of existential medicine." / blog auditorius.wordpress.com
