[Oe List ...] Vicarious trauma in southeast Denver

[David M Dunn]

12 people were killed and 60-some wounded in a theater in Aurora early this morning—the movie theater Burna and I attend regularly, about 10 minutes from our home. Our friend Alexey in Moscow called just a hour ago to say that he had already seen photos from the scene on the news in Moscow.

It's taken me all morning to become conscious of vicarious trauma. I had an over-full to-do list this morning, but I sought refuge in music, not the tasks in front of me. Instead of getting down to work, I searched for songs from "Kristina from Duvemåla"—a musical written by former ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson—on YouTube.

Here's a link to Helen Sjöholm singing "You Have To Be There" (with English subtitles)…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk76_iqw-Pc&feature=related

…the music from "Kristina" that kept my mind from sinking into the muck and the day from devolving into oblivion.


David



ps. The Wikipedia article about this glorious musical begins:
[Kristina from Duvemåla] premiered at the Malmö Opera and Music Theatre in Malmö, Sweden, on October 7, 1995 and received a rapturous welcome. The audience gave it a 10-minute standing ovation [and] the critics unanimously praised it…

On October 12, 1996, the 90-minute (of nearly four-hour score) concert version with the original cast was presented, in Swedish, in Minneapolis, Minnesota as an opening event of the Plymouth Music Series 1996-1997 season in Orchestra Hall; and next day in Chisago Lakes High School in Lindstrom, Minnesota – the area where much of the events in Moberg's books took place…

The American premiere received a glowing review from Minneapolis Star and Tribune : "I have seen the future of the music theater, and its name is Kristina...Engaging, emotionally charged – and at times haunting – piece of work capable of enchanting US viewers even when performed in a cut-down, concert version and in a tongue foreign to the audience"; while Helen Sjöholm who performed the role of Kristina was described as "extraordinary".


Synopsis of "Kristina from Duvemåla"
Act I
A young girl, Kristina, sits on her swing and dreams about her beau Karl Oskar. He is on his way to see her,
and she pictures how he makes his way through the familiar surroundings ("Duvemåla Pasture"). When Karl
Oskar arrives he tells her that he has inherited his father's farm, and can now make Kristina his wife. The
two are wed and begin a life together, but times are hard as they keep getting bad harvest years. Kristina
worries that they won't be able to support their growing family, and suggests to her husband that they don't
have intercourse, in order to prevent another pregnancy. Karl Oskar talks her out of it, saying that it would
be a betrayal of his lust and love for her ("My Lust for You").

Karl Oskar's brother, Robert, is on his way to begin working as a farm hand on a nearby farm. He stops by a
stream and wishes he was as free as the water ("Out Towards a Sea").
Kristina is pregnant again, and both she and Karl Oskar worry that they won't be able to feed their little ones
during winter. There is a drought, and the harvest is bad. In a fit of rage Karl Oskar tells God that since he
took their hay last year, he might as well take the rest. Shortly thereafter lightning strikes the barn and what
little hay they had goes up in flames. Kristina, who is very religious, tells her husband that he got what he
wished for ("Bad Harvest"). Robert returns home, having been beaten by his master. He refuses to go back,
instead he wants his share of the inheritance. He plans to leave Sweden and travel to North America. Karl
Oskar confesses that he has been considering the same thing. Kristina is horrified. Karl Oskar and Robert
try to convince her that she will love life in America, but she is too afraid. She prays to God that he will not
force her to go out on the sea and risk the lives of her children ("No").

Meanwhile Kristina's uncle Danjel is having a gathering in his house. Danjel believes that God has chosen
him to lead the people away from the wrong teachings of the church, and he has gathered a group of
outcasts to celebrate communion ("Little Group"). However the gathering is disrupted by the provost and
the local authorities, who scatter the group and threaten Danjel. One of the guests is Ulrika of Västergöhl, a
former prostitute who is now on the straight and narrow. She is furious over the hypocrisy of the provost;
one of his men used to be her customer. She vows that her daughter Elin will never have to suffer because
her mother was a whore ("Never").

Kristina, and Karl Oskar's parents, try to convince him that it is foolish to move. They would never be able
to return and would never get to see family and friends again. They wouldn't speak the language and would
end up completely isolated. But when Kristina makes christening porridge for the new baby, their starving
oldest daughter (Anna) eats it all and dies as a result. Realising that the poverty in Sweden is just as
dangerous as anything on the sea, Kristina agrees to move ("Come To Me Everyone"). They visit the
provost and write down their reasons for emigrating in the church book. The provost tries to convince them
to stay by telling them of all the horrors waiting in America, and by saying that God will wipe America off
the face of the earth within fifty years. The emigrants don't care however, and begin their journey ("We
Open Every Gate"). Karl Oskar, Kristina, their children and Robert have gained some companions on their
journey. Danjel and his family are moving to escape the religious persecution. Ulrika and her daughter is
moving with them, and so is Arvid, a friend of Robert's.

The ship turns out to be smaller than they had thought it would be. There is no room for Karl Oskar in the
family area and he must bunk with the bachelors. For the first time in their marriage, Kristina and Karl
Oskar are separated ("Farmers At Sea"). One day Kristina discovers lice on her body. She is horrified, since
she believes lice to be a sign of poor hygiene, and she has never had them before in her life. She blames
Ulrika, who does not have a louse on her. The two have a heated argument while an old woman, Fina-Kajsa,
tries to calm them by telling the story of how lice came to be ("Lice"). One night in the middle of a storm
Karl Oskar is woken up by his oldest son, Johan, who tells him that Ma is bleeding. Kristina, pregnant with
her fifth child, has fallen ill to scurvy. The captain does what he can to help her, and Karl Oskar sits by her
side, waking through the longest night of his life ("Stay"). When morning comes Kristina is alive, but
Danjel's wife is not ("Burial at Sea").

On Midsummer's Eve land is finally spotted. The emigrants set foot on American soil for the first time. The
sight of all the New Yorkers out for a Sunday walk overwhelms them, as does the foreign language ("A
Sunday in Battery Park"). Kristina sits and rests in Battery Park and longs for when she can finally have a
place to call home again ("Home"). The group travel by train and then by steamboat, amazed at how wide
America is ("From New York to Stillwater"). They arrive in Stillwater one rainy night and are taken in by
the Baptist priest Henry Jackson. The women are amazed by how he handles household chores, and begin to
understand that women are more equal to men in this new country. The immigrants struggle with the
language barrier as they try to communicate with Reverend Jackson ("To Think That Men Like Him Can
Exist").

Finally the immigrants become settlers, as they begin to build their homes. Kristina opens the chest with
their belongings and gets a feeling of home ("Camphor and Lavender"). Robert is not content with living at
his brother's new farm though. He tells his friend Arvid of his plans to go on the California trail and look for
gold. Karl Oskar is highly skeptical, but his brother is firmly set on leaving ("the Dream of Gold"). Kristina
gives birth to a healthy baby boy, and as she holds him in her arms she tells him about the land where she
was born, and of her astrakan apple tree which is still carrying fruit ("My Astrakan").

Act II
A few years have passed by. The settlers have begun to build a new life and a new civilisation by Chisago
Lake. They gather and celebrate their choice to move to this New World ("the Superiors"). But Kristina
doesn't cheer with them. She lies awake at night, tormented by her longing for Sweden, and begs God to let
her return. Karl Oskar wakes up, and tells her that if God tries to move her back he will reach out his hand
and keep her by his side. He shows her the boot that belonged to Anna and reminds her of why they left. He
also tells her that he plans to write her father and ask for some seeds from her astrakan tree back home.
Hopefully a new tree planted at their new settlement (named New Duvemåla after the farm she grew up on)
will help her feel more at home ("Bright Evenings in Springtime").

When Christmas comes Karl Oskar has bought Kristina a new stove, called the Queen of the Prairie. Their
friends gather at New Duvemåla to celebrate Christmas, and they all marvel at the new stove ("the Queen of
the Prairie"). The fun gathering is disrupted when Karl Oskar gets into a fight with Nöjd, a fur hunter. Nöjd
tells Karl Oskar that he doesn't own the land he farms, and informs him of the crimes committed against the
Indians. Karl Oskar defends himself by stating his plight back home in Sweden, and by telling Nöjd just
how hard he has worked to turn the wild grass on his property into a home and a farm ("Wild Grass").

One day Robert returns. Arvid is not with him, but he has a lot of money. Karl Oskar takes the money to the
bank in Stillwater, and while he is away Robert and Kristina talk. Robert tells her how he has come to
accept his fate and bow to it ("I Have Resigned At Last"). Kristina finds a watch which belonged to Arvid
and demands to know where Arvid is. Robert tells her the story of how they went searching for gold, but
ended up lost in the desert. Arvid drank poisoned water and died, the watch slipping from his hand ("the
Gold Turned Into Sand"). A furious Karl Oskar returns, informing Kristina that what Robert brought home
was Wild Cat money. Wild Cat money is fake money, and Karl Oskar believes that his brother knew all
along. He doesn't see that Robert has been tricked, and sick of his brother's lies and exaggerations he hits
him in the face ("Wild Cat Money"). Robert leaves and walks out to the woods where he finds a lonely
stream. He brought home the yellow fever along with the money, and by the stream he succumbs to it and
dies ("Out Towards a Sea (Reprise)").

Back in Sweden Ulrika was a whore and no respectable man would look at her twice. Now she is a coveted
maiden, and has several suitors ("Won't You Marry Me?"). She accepts a marriage proposal from Reverend
Jackson and tells Kristina she is converting to Baptism. The two women marvel at how they have gone from
enemies to the best of friends, and Kristina wishes her friend many years of blissful marriage ("A Miracle of
the Lord"). She comes to watch her friend being baptised ("Down to the Sacred Wave").

Kristina suffers a miscarriage which is a hard blow on her already fragile health. Ulrika takes her to the
doctor, and then brings Karl Oskar the bad news. After all the children Kristina has birthed, and after her
miscarriage, her body is broken and can't handle much more. The next childbirth will mean her death
("Miscarriage"). A devastated Kristina is alone under the stars. She thinks of all the bad things that have
happened to her, having to leave her home, losing her child and now losing her husband as well. It is as if
God didn't exist. She desperately begs to God, not knowing what she will do if he isn't real ("You Must
Exist").

As time passes, Kristina begins to feel better ("Harvest Feast"). She longs for her husband and one night
makes up her mind. She tries to convince Karl Oskar that it is God's meaning that husband and wife should
be together, and that if God wants her to live she will live, but if He wants her to die He will take her
regardless. Karl Oskar resists her, until she repeats the words he said to her so many years ago ("Here You
Have Me Again").

During the civil war, the state of Minnesota gets a civil war of its own, an Indian uprising. Chaos, murder
and violence begins to spread as Kristina finds out that she is once again with child. She tells Karl Oskar
and wants him not to worry, but he is very concerned. She turns to God and asks for help to comfort him,
since she is so weak and tired herself ("Red Iron/Help Me Comfort"). The settlers begin to flee their homes
as the uprising spreads ("Where Do We Belong?"). Karl Oskar sends the children away, but cannot leave
himself. Kristina has miscarried again, and lies dying in her bed. He sits vigil by her side and picks the first
apple off her astrakan tree. On the third day she once again recognises him, and takes the apple in her hand.
She tells him not to worry, and that she will be waiting for him at Duvemåla Pasture, like she once used to
do. Weakly she takes a bite, but dies before she can swallow it. Karl Oskar holds her in his arms and weeps
("In Good Keeping").



David Dunn
740 S Alton Way 9B
Denver, CO 80247
--
dmdunn1 at gmail.com
720-314-5991
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