Review: NEXT TO NORMAL at Maxim Teatern

Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey (lyrics) and Tom Kitt (music) premiered in 2008 off Broadway. The musical has won three Tony awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

It is not a feel-good musical but a feel-everything musical where it is impossible to defend oneself from the emotional roller coaster that the Fredman family lives in.

It is a musical that addresses difficult topics such as grief, depression, suicide, drug abuse and the ethics of modern psychiatry.

The Goodman family is seemingly an ordinary middle-class family, but behind the facade the family lives by balancing mother Diana's (Frida Bergh) bipolar disorder and trauma from what happened 17 years ago. Father Dan (Daniel Sjöberg) does everything he can to fend off Diana's fluctuations and cannot give up hope that things will be as good and normal as they were at the beginning of their relationship. Daughter Natalie (Sandra Kassman) has a need to be seen but is always overshadowed by her brother Gabe (Teodor Wickenberg). So one day she is seen by her classmate Harry (Teo Wennö) and he gives her warmth and attention but also becomes the gateway to drug abuse. Diana has been medicated for her illness by Doctor Frisk (Petter Mario Skoglund) for many years, but the medication is difficult and Doctor Ström (Thomas Järvheden) suggests a different treatment.

This is a production which came to live because the participants on and behind the stage had a dream to put it on together and it was made possible through a Kickstarter project. A dream where the result is a very well-acted performance with strong empathy and impressive efforts from everyone. Frida Bergh is fantastic as Diana and skillfully portrays the different fluctuations of Diana and with her strong voice conveys her emotions in every note. Teodor Wickenberg is also incredibly strong as Gabe. Sandra Kassman is very convincing in her role and you really feel for her when she fights to be seen. Diana's emotions have full scope while Dan has to hold back and be the strong one. In Daniel Sjöberg's Dan you can sense the struggle that exists within him and the frustration that is mixed with a naivety that it will be fine. Teodor Wennö is a breath of fresh air with his more frivolous Harry.

Simple and effective scenography that is largely the same throughout the musical. One side of the stage is the family home where the kitchen and living room are the central places and the other is the reception room. In this way, the feeling is reinforced that both are the central environments primarily for Diana but also its constant influence on the rest of the family. Behind a thin curtain, the trauma that is always present is occasionally hinted at.

Somewhere behind the curtain is also the six-piece band led by Johan Mörk. An extra compliment to having a live band because it adds so much extra and lifts the production. Perfect balance between singing and music in terms of sound.

I have seen Next to Normal in Oslo, at Uppsala City Theatre and at Stockholm City Theatre and this production measures up well to them, seasoned with a little extra love for this particular musical.

It is only a short run and now only two performances remain, April 25 and 26.

Tickets on sale at:

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