Ummikkos

About losing roots and taking them back.

One winter evening, Jonna sits in her newly purchased farm and tries to learn Meänkieli, her grandfather's language, the one she was never taught as a child. The language her grandfather now only speaks because the blood clot has taken Swedish from him.

Outside the window, Lasse approaches. He who once owned the same farm, he who left the village many years ago, but who is now being driven back, for reasons even he himself does not understand.

On the other side of the world, Markus, Lasse's son, ponders what his last name means, and why he can't seem to get used to the new sounds in the new big city.

Katarina remembers the fight they fought in the eighties. The fight for language, identity and culture. The one they fought against decades of Swedishization politics and shame. The fight they eventually won, but at what cost? Was it worth it?

What do your roots mean? What does your origin mean, if you have to leave your culture behind? Who will you become? If you are not allowed to speak your language or have never learned it? And is it possible to take your origins back?

Ummikkos is a newly written drama about the aspirations of the people of Tornedalen from the forties until today. Stories of personal destinies woven into a beautiful, sad and shocking story about fighting, being forced, or refusing to adapt, about being uprooted from one's roots. A fate shared by many Ummikkos around the world today.

Ummikko is Meänkieli for a person who does not speak the language of the surrounding area. A word for people from Tornedalen, Kvänen and Lantalaiset who have not been taught Meänkieli.

Already in the foyer, the audience is met with Tornedal experiences for all the senses. Tornedalsteatern has been commissioned to create a knowledge-raising exhibition in connection with Ummikko's tour. The appetizer, as the exhibition is called, is part of the reconciliation process between the state and the minority.

The performance is performed and subtitled in Swedish and Meänkieli.