Andante

Time no longer flows in a straight line. In the common room of a care home, five people drift between wakefulness and dreams, the present and memories. Occasionally, visitors arrive. Sometimes they are silent; sometimes they talk to themselves or to one another; they misunderstand each other, show concern for one another or fall out, before retreating back into their own worlds. Lars Norén portrays ageing as an almost hallucinatory space in which consciousness clings to half-forgotten fragments of identity, elusive memories and remnants of love or guilt. This repeatedly gives rise to bizarre and highly comical moments: the semi-lucid interaction, the fragile logic and the stubborn obstinacy of the elderly are reminiscent of Waiting for Godot – only here, Godot is Death, and his arrival is inevitable.

«What can be understood, what dialogue is possible, when the rules of communication disappear? … Norén’s dramatic focus on what happens when nothing happens may well have found its ultimate destination here.» (Aftonbladet)

«In Norén’s poignantly brutal style, the play is also very funny, and both the humour and the gloom come across as raw and unvarnished … These elderly people are not in the least bit reformed, funny or sentimental. It’s hard to grow old here – the mind fades, memories crumble into small, sharp fragments … In Andante, Lars Norén tips his hat to the old master [Beckett] – with the same darkness that points to the light.» (Expressen)