On Wednesday evening, the premiere of “Anastacia”, the only spex in English in Lund, filled all the places available at Kalmar Nation.
A spex is a theatrical performance written and represented by students. It is a common event in Lund but it is usually in Swedish. This time, however, Kalmar Nation organised their own spex in English, which attracted Swedish and international students.
The story happens in Paris, in the 1920’s, where a former Russian princess, Anastacia (Anna), who escaped the persecution led by the communists after the revolution in 1917, lives a bohemian life. She is highly coveted, but for different reasons: while a young man – her “friend” Bob – is desperate to confess his love for her, the Soviet authorities have also sent secret agents who must seek and kill her. These and other characters meet at a Parisian Café, in Montmartre, where the narrative develops.
Throughout the show, there are songs sung by the actors as well as jokes “that can be international”, says a student in the audience. The spex resembles sometimes a musical, but there is a difference from ordinary theatrical performances: after each song or joke, the audience can shout “retake” if they want the actors to repeat them, and they do it in a slightly different way.
“The retake is original. It would never happen in a normal theatre”, says Michelle Perske, an exchange student from Germany.
Maxim Telle, also from Germany, playing the boy who is in love with Anastacia, explains how he decided to take part as an actor in this event:
“I saw the post on the wall and I just thought it seemed interesting. I want to take everything I can get from my Erasmus in Sweden. I applied and that’s it!”.
Besides confessing his love for Anastacia on the stage, Maxim also confesses his lack of experience in acting, which did not seem to affect his performance: “I’ve never acted, never! Well, I’ve acted in life. That’s what you normally do”.
However, despite the lack of experienceof the actors, the spex was intensively prepared:
“We started one and a half month ago and we practice 2 to 3 times a week”, adds Maxim Telle.
The audience was expressive in showing their approval. “Retake” was heard very often and there was a long, effusive ovation at the end of the performance. “It’s good and it has exceeded my expectations”, says Marlou Bijlsma, an exchange student from Netherlands.
“It’s really interesting, it’s really like professional and seems like they practiced a lot and developed really well!”, states Camilo Sáenz, a master student from Colombia.
The musical character of the spex was also pointed out by the audience:
“They are singers as well, not only actors” says Ana Solat from Spain. “Especially the singers were really good!” adds Björn Svensson from Sweden.
The story happens during the 1920’s, but this did not refrain the production from including recent musical hits in the show, like “I’m sexy and I know it” or “Gangam Style”.
“I’m very well surprised!”,adds Michelle Perske.
