Astrid Lindgren: Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter

Translated from Swedish by Eugenija STRAVINSKIENĖ

On a forest-covered hill, in a castle split by lightning, lives Ronja, a girl born into the family of Mattis, a bandit chief. Her days are spent playing with the bandits and being showered with affection by her parents, while beyond the castle walls a magical forest awaits, full of gnomes, winged creatures and other extraordinary beings. Mattis watches his daughter grow up, hoping that Ronja will take over leadership of his band of robbers.

Their everyday life, usually filled with banditry, gatherings and songs, is struck as if by another bolt of lightning when news arrives: Mattis’s mortal enemy Borka has settled on the other side of the castle with his band. Borka’s son, Birk, lives with the robbers, too. The first time Ronja sees him, she senses that this is exactly the kind of person she has always longed for and waited for—a little person like herself. Though at first the children, like their fathers, compete and stubbornly stand their ground, they gradually become friends as they share adventures and face challenges. Their secret friendship becomes a challenge not only to the children but also to the bands of robbers, and eventually leads to their running away from home into the forest.

“Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter” is one of the best-known works by the celebrated Swedish children’s author Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002). Her books have been translated into more than 95 languages. Astrid Lindgren received dozens of awards, including the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, the highest international award for children’s writers and illustrators. She created such legendary, world-famous characters as Pippi Longstocking, Karlsson and Emil of Lönneberga.

“Ronja came about because, living in the city, I missed the fields and the deep forest very much. It began with me imagining a mountain, and on the mountain a robbers’ castle that suddenly split in two. ‘What kind of people live there?’ I wondered. Aha, one robbers’ family has a daughter, and another has a son. Just like Romeo and Juliet. At first they quarrel and tease each other, but little by little they become friends…” the author once said.

“Ronja is a girl who dares to choose her own path. Although she is very much like her father, she cannot accept his view of the world and stay in his castle; she must experience for herself what friendship means, what it means to love and to lose. Having run away from home into freedom, the children not only grow up in the forest, but also show the adults that the only path to strength is learning to live together and unite. I think the lessons written into Astrid Lindgren’s work are now incredibly relevant and important. Our production of ‘Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter’ is a musical, witty and, at the same time, profound coming-of-age story,” says Eglė Švedkauskaitė, the production’s director and author of the dramaturgical adaptation.

The performance features a song performed by the boys’ choir of the 4th grade of the “Ąžuoliukas” Music School (artistic director Vytautas Miškinis, choir master Daiva Leipuvienė).

*** Children under 4 do not need a ticket, but no seat in the auditorium is provided for them; they sit on the accompanying adult’s lap (please present a document proving the child’s age at the event venue). ***

Astrid Lindgren rights