Anne Frank's siblings

FFrom left: Mohammad Baghdadi, Mohammed Ahmedin Mohammed, Alaa Abdulmouti Aboras, Nasrin Khusrawi (lead actress), Mona Ayash Hasan, Firooz Yosofi, Diana Amine Bouorm, Seif Zakaria, Abdushakour Abduelrahman Abdushakour, Birgit Amalie Nissen (screenwriter), Yikealo Gebregziabher Bokru, Yordanos Ybetit Jahal, Sipan Bahzad Hussein. Hidden behind Amalie: Hagos Andemariam Ghebretnsae.

In "Anne Frank's siblings", reality and real posts from the media's comments section are put together with a fictional story. The result is a contemporary performance that affects us all. Je fled Syria alone when I was 17 and came to Norway last year. I grew up in a conservative society where I couldn't express my thoughts, which is what I hope to do on stage at Kilden," says Seif Zakaria.

I fled Syria alone when I was 17 and came to Norway last year. I grew up in a conservative society where I couldn't express my thoughts, which is what I hope to do on stage at Kilden," says Seif Zakaria.

This spring, the 19-year-old and a number of other students at Kongsgård Skolesenter in Kristiansand have participated in an intense process together with theater manager and scriptwriter Amalie Nilssen and director Laura Christina Brøvig Vallenes. Through a series of discussions and conversations with the refugees, Nilssen has received important input in her work on the script for the performance "Anne Frank's siblings".

- The script is based on a fictional story, where the main roles are played by professional actors. At the same time, the script has been created during the meetings with the refugees. So it's a performance where reality and fiction, lived life and fantasy are woven together," Nilssen explains.

The refugees who have participated in the project this spring have been granted residence permits and have settled in Kristiansand. Many have fled regimes where disagreeing with accepted truths could have cost them their lives. Thus, it has been difficult and unfamiliar to be able to speak freely in a group without fear. 

- It takes courage to break away from a culture with strict moral codes, but we have maintained that such codes have no place in our democracy. As a result, more and more people dared to share stories from their lives during the spring and thus contribute to the script work," says Nilssen.

Going in depth

The aim of the show is to delve into issues that are so complicated that we usually try to simplify them. 

- One example is that we accept life conditions for a group of people that we would never accept for our own group. It's a dangerous mindset that it's important to focus on," continues the screenwriter. 

Now both newspaper headlines and real commentary from the media will be lifted onto the stage. And several of the refugees will also participate in the performance itself.

"Now they dare to argue like crazy. " Birgit Amalie Nilssen

Inside or outside? Director Laura stands on one side of the fence, screenwriter Amalie on the other, together with some of the people the play is about.

History that touches

The play is about the young Jamilah, who together with her family is thrown out of Norway, but manages to flee back again. But she returns alone. Her mother disappeared at sea. Director Laura Christine B. Vallenes says that the script hit her like a fist in the stomach. 

- Jamilah's existential loneliness touches me. It's so heartbreaking, and when she flees back to Norway, she encounters things that many of us can recognize. For example, the busy mother of young children who wants to help but has no time," says Vallenes.

Is a refugee himself

The lead role of Jamilah is played by Iranian-born Nasrin Khusrawi. She was the first actress with a minority background to graduate from the National Academy of Theatre in Oslo. This is the first time she has played a role directly related to her own background as a refugee.

- It will be exciting. I bring my experience as a refugee with me and this concerns me very privately, so it's an extra resource I can benefit from. So I hope I can convey what it's like to be a refugee in as accurate a way as possible," says Khusrawi.

She thinks it's excellent to create a performance inspired by the refugees' own stories.

- In order for us humans to be able to comprehend difficult things, we sometimes need to use other means of communication. In the theater, we have many languages and forms of expression we can use when we don't have the language to understand. When the subject matter is so difficult, we sometimes have to go to the outer edges to understand.

Proud theater manager

Theater manager Amalie Nilssen is thrilled that Nasrin Khusrawi agreed to star in "Anne Frank's siblings".

- In addition to being a talented actress, she has the experience to put herself in the shoes of many of today's refugees.

In the play, the audience will also meet actor

Hege O. Enger, as the busy mother of young children, 

and Jon Erik Myre as Odin's soldier. By staging "Anne Frank's siblings", Kilden is moving into a difficult and demanding landscape. The theater manager believes it is both important and necessary.

- We don't provide ready-made answers to what is difficult, but the strength of the theater is that we can stop time for a moment and give the audience room to reflect," concludes Amalie Nilssen.