Review: Egenmäktigt förfarande

Ester Nilsson is a main character you won’t soon forget. She is so incrediblystupid in her hopeless crush and one gets so incredibly annoyed with her. And the worst: at least I recognize myself. I’m Ester Nilsson.

When I read the book, I writhed with shame and recognition. I felt great sadness over all the times I’ve been (hopelessly) in love with someone and told myself that his behavior is probably due to one thing or the other. Especially this explanation and analysis of a guy’s behavior. I’ve done it so many times.

The play, on the other hand, is much more comedy than tragedy. Or, of course, a certain tragicomedy. With only four actors on stage, the performance manages to paint Ester’s inner life and is still very faithful to the book, even though the interpretation is, as I said, much more comical than how I perceived the novel itself. There is a lot of laughter, but the audience also writhed in shame. We’ve all been unhappily in love at some point, haven’t we?

I really recommend the play. And the book if you haven’t read it yet! All quotes in the post are from the book. Many thanks to Lilla teatern who invited me to the premiere. It’s not exactly every day I get premiere invitations so it felt great. Have you read the book or are you thinking of seeing the play?