The Power of Glesbygd
Glesbygd by Swedish Håkki, or Tomas Eriksson, which is his real name, is described as some kind of standup comedy with anecdotes mixed with Swedish dance music, Muzak and movies. The character of Håkki was made up due to the stereotypic Northern Swede, the origin of Eriksson’s. The character has become internationally renowned for conveying the positivity of the countryside and communities with local atmosphere.
Information
(Objekt ID 1247)| Object type | Production |
| Premiere | February 10, 2007 |
| Produced by | Håkki |
| Audience | (from 16) |
| Language | Swedish |
| Keywords | Storytelling theatre, Performance, Stand-up comedy |
| Website | Håkki |
Requirements to venue
| Blackout | No |
Glesbygd started as an art project in the home municipality of Eriksson, and the objective to somehow include people from his home area.
Eriksson tanked his Volvo, attached a camper, and began to drive around the district. He announced that he was on his way to the different rural communities in the municipality. Wherever he parked he served coffee and cookies and talked to the natives. What he was the most interested in were the real and raw stories, dealing with sex, alcohol, hunting, fighting and other dirty deeds. He wanted the juicy stories being told by night. These stories are now served to the audience in the expression of good, old-fashioned oral storytelling, or perhaps rural stand-up mixed with movie clips and PowerPoint.
Tomas "Håkki" Eriksson is Håkki™'s public face. Håkki™ is an art project initiated in Trondheim in 2002, by Bjørn Kowalski Hansen, Mats Stenslet and Tomas Eriksson According to the legend, Mats and Bjørn crossed the border to Sweden to hoard bacon and other pork meat when they met a weirdo sporting a fantastic mullet (in Scandinavia this is called a "hockey hair cut"). Håkki told them about life in his home village after the cornerstone company had been shut down.
The project has become a small, but extremely successful fashion company. Håkki™ was included among the 50 up and coming international artists acknowledged in the magazine Contemporary Annual 2006.
BIT Teatergarasjen, spring program 2007 (in Norwegian). 09.09.2010: http://www.bit-teatergarasjen.no -archive
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Tomas Håkki Eriksson | – Performer |
| Jimmy "Turbo" Lundgren | – Performer |
| February 10, 2007 – Foajé, BIT Teatergarasjen | Opening night |