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Medea's Children

Stockholm City Theatre, Skärholmen

Medea's Children is based on the Greek myth of the sorceress Medea and Euripides' ancient drama Medea (from 431 BCE). Medea's Children premiered in 1975 at Unga Klara in Stockholm and is said to have fundamentally changed Swedish children's theatre. Behind the production stood Per Lysander and Suzanne Osten, who fought throughout their careers for children's right to art—including art that takes life's difficult questions seriously. Fifty years later, the play now takes the stage at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern Skärholmen. With newly composed live music and direction by Mellika Melouani Melani, the audience is invited into Lillmedea and Lilljason's story of courage and darkness, betrayal and survival—through both humour and seriousness we are given the chance to reflect on the drama's existential questions.

The production was selected for the performing arts biennial for children and young people (Bibu) 2026, with the motivation that Melouani Melani's direction succeeds in making the classic relevant for a new generation:

By: Per Lysander, Suzanne Osten

Direction: Mellika Melouani Melani

Dramaturgy: Mia Winge

Set design & costume: Helga Bumsch

Composer: Lovisa Samuelsson, Isabel Sörling

Choreography: Sandra Medina

Lighting: Ida Wenger

Mask: Åsa Horáková

Musicians: Lovisa Samuelsson, Isabel Sörling

Ensemble: Elina Norén Sandberg, Tina Pour-Davoy, Leonard Terfelt, Sandra Medina, Per Öhagen, Olle Jernberg

“Director Mellika Melouani Melani has created a production that does not shy away from the darkness, but is carried forward by the children's own imagination and agency.”

“Melani's production is a visual and emotional release that feels highly relevant fifty years after the premiere.”

SvD

“Mellika Melouani Melani's direction is both playful and relentless at the same time.”

Expressen

“With her fingertip sensitivity, Mellika Melouani Melani places children's perspectives at the absolute centre.”

Bibu 2026