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 robber chief. Her days pass playing with the robbers and being cherished by her parents, while beyond the castle walls she awaits an encounter with a magical forest full of gnomes, harpies and other extraordinary creatures. Meanwhile, Mattis watches his daughter grow, hoping Ronja will take over leadership of the robber gang from him. Their everyday life, filled with robberies, gatherings and songs, is pierced like another bolt of lightning by the news: on the other side of the castle, Mattis’s mortal enemy Borka has settled with his gang. Borka’s son, Birk, lives among the robbers too. When Ronja sees him for the first time, she feels that this is just the kind of little person, so much like herself, whom she has always longed for and awaited. At first, like their fathers, the children compete and stubbornly stand their ground, but as they gradually share adventures and challenges, they become friends. Their secret friendship becomes a challenge not only to the children but also to the robber gangs, and eventually leads to the children running away from home into the forest.

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

“Ronja came about because, living in the city, I longed very much for fields and deep forests. It began when I started 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 robber family has a daughter, and another has a son. Just like Romeo and Juliet. At first they quarrel and tease each other, but gradually 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 mature 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 extremely 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 the production’s director and dramatic adapter, Eglė Švedkauskaitė.

The production 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 is provided for them in the auditorium; they sit on the accompanying adult’s lap. (Please present a document proving the child’s age at the venue.) ***

Astrid Lindgren rights