Astrid Lindgren’s beloved classic Ronja The Robber’s Daughter has charmed readers for over forty years. Now it will be seen for the first time on the big stage of the National Theatre.
On the first night, especially the child viewers sat on the edge of their seats holding their breath, mesmerized by the magical creatures of Matiassenmetsa and the antics of the competing bands of bandits.
In the world of fairy tales, friendship, kindness and love always win in the end. On the way, you will meet all kinds of wonderful creatures, from tame foxes to wild horses and from ajatari to pine trees.
Pine trees and persimmons
*Ronja Ryövärintytär* is a story about surprising friendship, the courage to be yourself and questioning the rigid thinking of previous generations.
– It scared me that this is such a popular work and there are so many versions of this, that if I disappoint? I haven’t seen any of the theatrical versions myself, nor the movie. I decided not to look, but to do Ronja as I do.
Kansallisteatteri’s version is new, but the characteristics of the main character are familiar to Ronja’s friends of all ages, Korttila describes.
– Ronja is stubborn, headstrong, warm-hearted and curiously ecstatic about everything new and happening around her.
In addition to the main couple, the animals and magical creatures of Matiasenmetsa play an important role. They are played by a group of child actors.
– The show features pine martens, persimmons and ground martens and horses and all of these. We had to make a clear demarcation that the children do not play children, because there are only two children in the story, Ronja and Birk. The only exception is flashbacks.
Meaney, like almost all other people in their forties, has already gotten to know Ronja in the evenings.
It was important for him to create a world on the stage that speaks equally to both the child encountering the story for the first time and the middle-aged inner ten-year-old.
– I have built the show with the idea that what I thought as a child would have been great to see on stage. I notice that as an adult I think exactly the same way. We have all been children, childhood resonates in us.
\”Ronja is not a work of one argument\”
He himself directed Ronja at the Suomenlinna summer theater eleven years ago, just after graduating from the Theater Academy. As a child, the book was read many times, as well as after watching the Swedish film made in 1984.
– I have already stepped into that stream many times, but I wanted to reach what my earliest images of Ronja were. They were really sensual: exposure to the grace of nature, dramatic encounters with different animals and objects, and what it’s like to be alone with a friend in the middle of the forest.
In Pettersson’s opinion, *Ronja Robber’s Daughter* always appeals to new generations because it deals with big questions so beautifully.
– Ronja does not bend to the work of one argument. There is a strong vitality and spectrum of life present in it. Ronja faces big themes and issues that every child throughout the ages has faced, such as the incompleteness and inadequacy of their own parents, the need to be alone and skill and friendship.