Olaug Nilssen’s play Stort og stygt (Big and Ugly) explores the joys and strains of raising children, where hope collides with reality and the demands of parenthood push couples to their limits. Alan Lucien Øyen’s production at Den Nationale Scene wove humor and pain into a portrait of family life that felt both deeply personal and universally relatable.
A wonderfully serious comedy that calls for laughter, empathy, and reflection.
At the heart of the play are two neighboring couples: one expecting their first child, the other struggling with the demands of raising their autistic toddler. By casting actress Marianne Nielsen as the child, Øyen underscored the weight and complexity of the parents’ challenge — reframing the question of what it means to care for a child who does not conform to expectations.
In Alan Lucien Øyen’s direction, difficult themes are treated without sensationalism — strengthening the play’s credibility and relevance.
Performed in Den Nationale Scene’s Teaterkjelleren space, the production emphasized realism while offering subtle theatricality. The dialogue, humor, and silences highlighted the fear of not being enough, the burden of judgment, and the endless recalibration demanded by family life.
The evolving set mirrored this precarious balancing act: Åsmund Færavaag’s transformable wooden design shifted into living rooms and bedrooms like oversized building blocks — toys that the adults continuously worked against, echoing the instability and resilience of the families on stage.
Åsmund Færavaag’s ingenious set design transforms into endlessly adaptable spaces.
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