Review: MIN VÄN FASCISTEN/MY FRIEND THE FASCIST THE MUSICAL at Playhouse Teater

This is a musical that brings laughs and concerns to the audience at the same time. The children from Astrid Lindgrens Bullerbyn has grown up and are having a traditional crayfish party. They grew up together in the idyllic Bullerbyn but have developed in different ways. They have different political opinions and the only thing they seem to have in common now is that they all think they are stuck in the middle class.

In the first act the uncomfortable truths comes one after the other, nothing is politically correct and the redemptive laughs are frequent. You quickly realize that you have no idea what will come next as the topics changes all the time in furious pace. In the middle of the first act, an uninvited guest (Fridolf) appears, wearing a Nazi uniform and a loaded rifle, and is perceived as threatening by the old friends. But he is in a happy mood and just wants to hang out with them. The contrasts between the friendly, clueless and all the harsh abominations that Nazism stands for become absurd and comical. But is it ok to laugh at Nazism and can it hide behind a friendly appearance?

The first act is superb. The second act loses a bit of tempo and takes a small unexpected turn. But as a whole, it is a musical that arouses many thoughts, is recognizable and leaves no-one untouched.

The complete dialogue is sung by Lisa (Frida Bergh), Britta (Thérèse Andersson Lewis), Bosse Junior (Teodor Wennö), Anna (Åsa Bergh), Lasse (Anders Butta Börjesson), Olle (Niklas Löjdmark Chressman) and Fridolf (Reuben Sallmander) and I was really impressed by all the words in the lyrics they delivered with perfect timing. In the beginning of the first act there was a bit of a problem with one of the microphone so they stopped and replaced it, which was good as it is crucial for the plot that the fantastic lyric by Klas Abrahamsson reaches the audience. The music by Erik Gedeon performed under the direction of Johan Mörk is good and it's fun that it varies in musical styles so different moods are built up. The volume of the music could however could be reduced a bit in order for the lyrics to be better heard.

The ensemble is good and enhances each other, but I was particularly impressed by Thérèse Andersson Lewis who plays the drunken Britta with perfection. The eyes get dimmer with each glass and the body language changes as well. It hurts a bit when Bosse Jr finally has to take care of his drunken mother in order to bring her home.

The musical is almost 10 years old, but the topics are still current and with the upcoming election it is at least as relevant as then and is a musical that needs to be played and seen.

The last performance for this run is the 4th of January and tickets are on sale at:

https://www.playhouseteater.se/min-van-fascisten.aspx

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