Gellhorn & Hemingway
Written by Stig Hansén
Directed by Björn Runge
SCENOGRAPHY Peder Freiij
LIGHT Erik Berglund
MASK Maria Reis
CAST Jakob Eklund and Patronella Barker
MUSIC BY Linda Spjut
Paris 1944. Andra världskriget går mot sitt slut. Det gör också de 71 dagar som Martha Gellhorn gett sin man Ernest Hemingway. Han måste sluta dricka och börja skriva – annars går hon. Nu kommer hon till hans hotellrum på Ritz. Sju år har deras kärlekshistoria varat, fyra år som gifta. Hon längtar efter ett vanligt liv. Efter frihet. Gör hon?
”Jag vill ha dig ingen annan” säger han.
Och kanske är det här första dagen i deras nya liv.
Som en av få journalister i världen fick Stig Hansén möta Martha Gellhorn. Hon berättade då historien som pjäsen bygger på – en omskakande berättelse om henne och Ernest Hemingway som aldrig tidigare berättats.
BJÖRN’S THOUGHTS
Gellhorn&Hemingway a play by Stig Hansén and premiered at the Stockholm City Theatre in 2015. The text is clear as a bell and depicts decisive encounters between a married couple that is gliding apart. I tried to work with film projections and different levels in time, but I have the feeling that something in this production did not completely fit together; perhaps it was the fact that we spread the two actors over too vast a stage area. However, in my memory G&H remains a very powerful performance.
This play struck a personal chord in me, my family history. More specifically it reminded me of my grandfather's fate, as the play follows the Allied liberation of Paris and France in 1944, later advancing through Belgium over The Rhine into Nazi Germany.
My grandfather was executed by SS troups in Stavelot, Belgium, on December 17, 1944...
Thus, the projections in this play stirred a manifold of emotions in me: those evasive sceptres from the past were also shadows of a long-gone blood relative.
