Lilja

Volodja and Lilja

Yesterday, a Spanish friend of mine invited me to see Lilja, an Icelandic theatre play. The play was about a sixteen year-old Russian girl, Lilja, who is abandoned by her mother. She is trying to survive in poor conditions with her friends Natasha (16) and Volodja (12). Soon she ends up selling her ass for money until she meets a nice man offering a better future in Sweden. Naturally, the man was bullshitting. Lilja and Natasha were sold as prostitutes to a Swedish pimp. In the end, Natasha gets killed and Lilja commits a suicide. Meanwhile, Volodja dies of cold in Russia. All good guys died, awesome!

The play was spectacular. I didn't have any expectations, but if I have had them, they would have been highly exceeded. All six actors were really, really good. I especially liked the character and performance of Volodja. Obviously, I didn't fully understand the dialogs but actresses body language was sufficient enough to know what was going on.

Natasha

In addition to great actors, the special effects were outstanding. Many magnificent scenes were created with only lights and sound. The ending scene with Rammstein music and reflected pictures of human trafficking victims caused severe goose bumps for me.

Locals seemed to like Lilja as well. The play ended to staggering applause with three bowing encores. This was the 30th show and still it was sold out. I'm not surprised at all.

Pictures are stolen from Leikfélag Akureyrar.