Killar by Young Europe V playwright Nanna Berner
We are thrilled to announce ETC Young Europe V programme's first classroom play premiere, with 'Killar' by Nanna Berner, at Malmö Stadsteater.
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KILLAR
When Emir’s older brother Ali disappears, he leaves behind a void that no one can fill. Ali was his role model, his protector, the one who helped him make sense of the world. Without him, everything begins to fall apart; at home, at school, within Emir himself.
All that remains is a father trying to reach his son, and a son who does not know how to respond. Everyday conversations about food, school and the future switch to confrontations about shame, dreams and responsibility. Again and again, Emir returns to his memories of Ali — driving through Malmö, the music, the gym where they used to exercise side by side.
Killar is a play about growing up in Malmö in the shadow of gang violence. Emir has lost his older brother to a life of crime, and from that loss emerges a story about grief, masculinity and identity. A father and son who keep pushing each other away, yet never stop trying to connect. And about a boy who must find his own voice in the shadow of the brother who is no longer there.
A new play for teenagers
The play is also an attempt to listen. Over the course of two years, director Hedvig Claesson and playwright Nanna Berner met with boys and young men across Malmö, through conversations at places including non-profit youth organisations and a special residential home for young people. They asked about friendship, dreams, fear, love, the future, and about what it means to grow up as a boy in a city where violence can sometimes feel close at hand.
Many of the young people they met said that no one had ever really listened to their experiences before. These meetings have created many stories, which now form the basis of the play. Killar aims to give voice to thoughts and experiences that are rarely heard, while also highlighting the strength, humour and hope for the future found among those growing up in difficult times.