Director Michaela Granit on Grandpa’s Mauser
Michaela Granit, you direct Grandpa’s Mauser by Marcus Rosenlund at Lilla Teatern. What exactly is a Mauser?
- A Mauser is a gun, and the play’s Mauser is a memory from the Winter War that the main character Rolle finds in his grandfather’s closet. In one fell swoop, a fantasy arises about taking up the gun and ending the harassment Rolle himself is subjected to at school.
Tell us more about the play, which is science journalist Marcus Rosenlund’s debut as a playwright.
- Grandpa’s Mauser is a very personal story that Marcus Rosenlund has written based on his own childhood, when he was severely bullied. But from his own experiences, he goes one step further and asks himself, through fiction: what are the consequences of being subjected to bullying and what can it drive us to?
Grandpa’s Mauser is described as a story of bullying and vulnerability. What is it about?
- As a child, Marcus had a fantasy of once and for all to silence the laughter and oppression. That’s when he happened to find his grandfather’s hidden weapon and toyed with the idea of using it, seriously. He didn’t do that in real life, but the interesting thing about this play is how Marcus dares to go into his imagination and look at the consequences of what could have happened.
Grandpa’s Mauser is largely set in Rolle’s memories of the 80’s school environment. It still feels as if the play could be set in the present day?
- Unfortunately, this is still a terribly topical theme, it happens again and again. We ask ourselves: what happens if you as a victim do not get a response from the adult world, can it drive you to take that Mauser, or another equally destructive weapon? What is our responsibility around it? It is a serious subject. The story will evoke many thought tracks and feelings in parents, or anyone really who has experienced situations of bullying and vulnerability in some way. Most of us have witnessed this from some point of view.
The main character Rolle is played by Tobias Zilliacus. How are Rolle’s experiences portrayed on stage?
- The story begins with the adult Rolle, at the peak of his career as a TV meteorologist. However, life has begun to rock, with a divorce, a meeting with an old friend, and then, just before the broadcast, a conversation that irremediably triggers repressed emotional storms and makes him lose his concept. The play enters Rolle’s blackout, in his fantasy world, bringing out the inner demons that remain there. The actors alternate between many different roles and become echoing voices. Projections, sounds, lights and music help create Rolle’s inner universe.
So what can we expect as an audience?
- Grandpa’s Mauser is a visual, cool performance. A thriller with a strong story, which goes all the way to the Winter War and all the way back to the present day. Despite the nasty experiences, a lot of laughter and twisted humor are present, because Marcus Rosenlund’s own emotional tone shines through. The character Rolle is, just like Marcus, very interested in meteorology, quantum physics and the universe. And out of the darkness grows a desire to meet, and thoughts of friendship and joy.