The Swedish Aunt (2005/2021) is a bronze statue. The original is in the residential area of Växjö. There is another one in the industrial area of Norrköping. The statue is by artist and sculptor, Susanna Arwen (1959-). Arwen said “Man can say that when you are an aunt, you are so ordinary that you become unusual…“
Mirinda thought she was the queen. That’ll be Elizabeth, not Sylvie.
We spotted her as we made our way through the once thriving textile area of Norrköping. It was nicknamed Sweden’s Manchester at one time, it was so well known for it’s textiles. These days, it’s been revitalised and looks amazing. It looked so amazing that we decided we’d love to return during the day.
However, we were not in Norrköping to admire Swedish aunts or the remnants of so many bits of cloth. No, we were headed for the Louis de Geer* theatre to see the circus. It wasn’t any ordinary circus, though. It was an Alice in Wonderland themed circus, performed brilliantly by the members of Kyiv Elysium Circus Theater [sic].
There is a strong theatrical tradition in Norrköping. For instance, the first Scandinavian performance of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was performed there in 1776. Now there’s an excellent pub quiz question! English publicans, take note.
However, before I talk about the circus, I have to heap praise on Pappa Grappa.
Of course, because Mirinda was away for my birthday, she decided that tonight would be my birthday dinner with her. Obviously, as anyone will tell you, I have to have pizza, beer and ice cream for my birthday dinner. Though, I should say that if tiramisu is on the menu, ice cream will get bumped.
And the pizza, beer and tiramisu at Pappa Grappa were all excellent.
Mirinda was a bit concerned that the restaurant would not be open or would be full. Or would be awful. In fact it was close to empty when we first walked in, which was a bit of a worry.
By the time we left, it was buzzing; an extraordinary thing on a Monday night. Though, the food and service was good enough to justify the crowd. I would definitely eat at Pappa Grappa again. Maybe it can be an annual pilgrimage.
Anyway, back to the theatre and the amazing Elysium circus troupe.
There were lots of spectacular death defying acrobatics, great music and effects, some pretty amazing magic tricks, excellent dancing and, of course, a rather loose interpretation of Alice running through it. In fact, Alice, the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter led us through all the circus acts.
Actually, at one stage, the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit, came downstage and sat on the apron, giving high-fives to the audience in the front row while miming to a song with the lyrics “Welcome to the tea party.” One of the older members of the audience was taking photos of them, really close. She looked a lot like a Swedish Aunt.
For me, the red and white queens (yes, there was a bit of a loan from Through the Looking Glass) were fantastic. Costumes, attitude, dancing…they had it all. The big aerial battle near the end made for a fabulous finale.
To be entirely fair, it would be impossible to nominate the best bit of the show. From the man balancing head on head with the strong man to the golfer who juggled golf balls by spitting them into the air; from the hoola hoop woman to the magician who brilliantly split a woman in half. The whole thing was one big, incredible spectacle. We booked it ages ago and it was well worth the wait. The 2024 Scandinavian tour is still on. If there’s a performance near you, I would definitely recommend it for all the family. You can read about and book it, here.
* Of course, I hear you ask, who was Louis de Geer (1818-1896). Well, as I’m sure every Swede will tell you, he was the very first prime minister of Sweden. However, that’s not who the concert hall is named after. It’s named after Walloon-Dutch industrialist Louis De Geer (1587–1652) who came to Sweden in 1627 and settled in Norrköping.
