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

[Isobel and Jim Bishop]

We are very sad to hear this news.

In support,
Isobel Bishop.


On 21/07/2012, at 5:08 AM, David M Dunn wrote:

> 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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