Review: ARV (THE INHERITANCE ) at Dramaten

Arv (The Inheritance) by Matthew Lopez has re-opened at a larger stage at Dramaten with new scenography.

A play that is eight hours may sound like a challenge, but when I left Lilla Scenen at about 9 p.m., I was amazed at how quickly the time had passed. There are plays that are much shorter than that that I tossed and turned, but that didn't happen once during Inheritance.

I chose to see Arv as a full day performance and then the first second act is divided into three parts of about 1 hour with a 15 minute break between each part and a 1 hour lunch break between act 1 and act 2. You can also choose to see it divided into two evenings. I really liked the full day setup so I could enter the Legacy bubble and get to know all the characters.

Legacy is about a group of gay men in New York around 2016 and the time of the election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Here the younger generation of men, who live a relatively free life as homosexuals, meet the older generation who survived the AIDS epidemic and lived under strong oppression. The elderly have seen friend after friend languish and die of AIDS and have been involved in fighting for their rights. But even today's young men are shamelessly used by those who can pay, a commodity that you use when you want.

With a starting point in a writing course, the lives of the various characters are rolled up, where the young couple Eric and Toby are at the center and how their relationship develops and the friends around them.

Watching Legacy is an emotional rollercoaster. I laughed and cried alternately. Had been warned about the risk of tears, but not that it was so funny. Unexpected funny situations, something that makes you laugh about this? Then it turns around and becomes close and touching and I feel the tears start to run down my cheek. The audience, which is very young, laughs and cries loudly. It is impossible to defend yourself from the emotions conveyed from the stage.

Incredibly well acted play and everyone's performances are so good, min plays, body language and the lines are delivered with exactly the right feeling. I'm spellbound and at every break I wonder where the time went, while it's a little nice to have an emotional break and digest what just happened.

The scenography is very simple, basically an empty floor, a few chairs, but what makes it really effective is a large angled mirror so you see everything happening on the stage from above. It was particularly effective in the second act when they travel to the house in the country with a large blooming cherry tree.

I was in my teens when the Aids epidemic was going on and through the news you understood that it was something terrible, but a correct angled picture. It was more only after a while that there was more focus on the individuals who were affected in a human way. Just like in Gardell's Gråt inga tårar - here you get an insight into what it was like to live during the epidemic, but also after as survivors and the new generations.

Legacy is a very special theater experience and something I will always carry with me. It really touches the heart - well worth spending a day at Dramaten for!

Arv is scheduled to run until the 30th of January.

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