Export:

Swedish Drama For Young Audiences

 

ASSITEJ Sweden’s project “Export: Swedish Drama For Young Audiences” is an targeted initiative towards Swedish drama for children and youth aimed at an international audience.

By presenting pieces of selected playwrights’ works, we want to show the fantastic breadth and the high quality contempory drama produced in Sweden for the younger audience.

The playwrights presented below are selected by the ASSITEJ Sweden Board. They represent different genres and are all chosen for their solid experience in writing for young audiences.

Alma Lindé

Alma Lindé

Alma Lindé is a Swedish playwright, screenwriter, librettist, and director.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in drama/dramaturgy from Stockholm University of the Arts and has written around thirty plays that have been performed at various theatres across Sweden.Here’s how Alma describes her work:

“My vision as a playwright is pretty straightforward—most of the time I just want to make people laugh. I have a nerd’s obsession with characters, rapid-fire dialogue and perfect timing. My greatest drive is my fascination for people. Just the fact that we are so different from each other, is to me the greatest treasure of humanity. I love impossible heroes; people who are utterly convinced of their own version of the world—and forcing them to coexist with others they clash with in every way. To me, comedy is almost sacred, something I truly believe is vital for human beings.    I genuinely believe that you can reach absolutely anyone about absolutely anything, as long as you tell the story with enough humour and warmth.”

Anders Duus

Anders Duus is a playwright, dramaturg, translator and educator. He had his breakthrough in mainly theatre for young audiences in the early 2000s. He was writer in residence at Unga Riks in 2005-2007, and has since been combining freelance work with dramaturg positions at Riksteatern and Örebro Teater. These days he’s in charge of the playwriting program at Stockholm University of the Arts. He writes for both children and adults.

Duus’ plays for young audiences often deal with themes of friendship and social class, usually with a non-urban viewpoint. His plays blend realism, magic, mythology and a mischievous sense of humour.

Duus’ plays have been staged all over Sweden, as well as abroad, several of them multiple times. He lives is Strängnäs, a small town on lake Mälaren.

Hanna Nygren

I’m a playwright with a deep passion for creating engaging and grand theatrical experiences for both children and adults. For me, theatre is about creating a magical experience in a way that no other artform can  – where the boundaries between the stage and the audience blur and same actors can play multiple roles. I also love big, epic adventures and I love mixing reality and fairytales. 

My work often deals with themes of loneliness, exclusion, and social responsibility, with a political undertone and a lot of humor. As an example one of my plays, Vansinnet (for 9-12-year-olds), follows an angry 12-year-old girl guided by philosopher Michel Foucault through the history of psychiatry, meeting individuals who have been labeled “deviant” throughout time. 

I have a background in French studies from Lund University and a Bachelor’s degree in Playwriting from Stockholm University of the Arts in 2019.

 

Alexandra Loonin

Playwright Alexandra Loonin grew up in the north of Sweden before moving to the south to earn her masters degree at the Malmö Theatre Academy. She has since written plays for companies and institutions all over Sweden, many of whom have focused on younger audiences. In a project spanning over seven years she wrote three site specific plays together with a reference group in Malmö, Sweden, following them from 4th to 9th grade. The Hemligt, Farligt, Heligt trilogy – produced and performed by Banditsagor -, was later published as a book together with reflections by the reference group. Loonin moves between themes, forms and genres and have written choirs and circus pieces, fairy tales, adaptations, farce and site specific drama. She is currently the in-house playwright at Teater Västernorrland, where she also holds a position as dramaturg. She is the host of the Playwright’s podcast (Dramatikerpodden) where she talks to other playwrights about their artistic work as well as the working environment and politics surrounding new dramatic writing of today.

 

Isabel Cruz Liljegren

Alma Lindé

Isabel Cruz Liljegren is an acclaimed playwright and director with over 25 works staged at major Swedish theatres, specialising in productions for children and young audiences. Her pieces are praised for their emotional depth, humour, and thought-provoking narratives, often blending reality with fiction. With her distinctive rhythmic language, Isabel explores themes of identity, growth, and existential and political questions. Her work has earned numerous accolades, including a Prix Europa award and selection for the prestigious Bibu Biennale. Dedicated to artistic innovation, she serves on the boards of the Writers Guild of Sweden and Swedish ITI and advocates for LGBTQ+ rights and artistic freedom. Isabel is represented by Colombine Theatre Agency.

Seluah Alsaati

I am a writer and playwright from Skärholmen, a suburb of Stockholm. I am often told that I write fun, smart and fast, and that my language is raw as well as authentic. Maybe it’s because I used to write poetry and rap. I tell stories about our contemporary society without writing the audience on the nose.

According to the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, I am – with my plays – building my own universe of women’s lives that populate the Swedish suburbs.

Although I try to write drama, the theaters call my plays comedies. Maybe it’s because I always let my audience laugh before they cry.

Lucas Svensson

Lucas Svensson, playwright, born 73
educated at the Dramatic Institute (2002)
He made his debut in 2002 at The Royal Dramatic Theatre with Fallna från månen a play for children and adults, set in a modern big city wasteland, circling around class and social struggle, recurring themes in Svensson’s plays. In 2008 he received the Heffaklumpen award for Petter och Lotta och Stora Landsvägen, a critical reimagination with Brechtian and Strindbergian overtones of the works of the classic and much beloved Swedish children author Elsa Beskow. Svensson has written around 50 plays of wich many has been translated and played in Germany, Norway, Denmark, Serbia, Russia, US, among other countries. Svensson is also working as a dramaturg. He lives in Copenhagen.