Parveln

Malin Hellkvist Sellén’s »Parveln« is a performance about the literary critic, essayist and translator Klara Johanson (1875 – 1948).

K.J. as Klara preferred to be called, wrote for a number of publications including »Tidevarvet«, a publication of the women’s liberation movement. A close friend of several of the authoritative women in the movement fighting for peace and liberation, K.J. was also involved romantically with a few of them.

K.J. was a forerunner in many ways, a free-thinking person, who had no time for bigots. K.J. was the first woman to graduate from secondary school in Halmstad and belonged to the first generation of women to study at Uppsala University. K.J. lived a lesbian life and – almost a century ago – already formulated the analyses on sexuality and gender that the field of queer theory asserts today. It is a pleasure to experience the astuteness of their observations, razor-sharp wit and gender-political radicalism.

K.J. was a self-proclaimed genius who wanted to be remembered and who donated all their* diaries, photographs and sketches to the National Library of Sweden. This rich archive of material provided Malin Hellkvist Sellén/MHS and the team a springboard into the production of the performance. Even though K.J. is worthy of a given place in our collective memory and historical records, K.J. is relatively unknown today – something that MHS wants to change.

»Parveln« aims to give prominence to an incredibly inspiring unsung hero, word artist and feminist – someone you really want to know about! »Parveln« is a monologue featuring dance and song in which the actress Andrea Björkholm portrays Klara Johanson.

World premiere September 15, 2017 at Fri Scen Kulturhuset Stadsteatern Stockholm.
More information (in Swedish) about the performances at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern HERE.