Difficult, but beautiful

The play LAUS by Desiree Bøgh Vaksdal puts you into the thoughts and feelings of a rape victim.

LAUS is about Hove who meets his group of friends at a party after they haven't seen each other for a while. They're drinking and having fun, but Hove gets a little uncomfortable when Mathias arrives at the party. She goes to the bathroom to get away, but Mathias follows her.

Later in the performance, we learn that Hove was raped in the toilet. The play puts us into the thoughts and feelings of a rape victim and shows how difficult it can be to return to everyday life after such an event. We also see how friends can let you down. The play also shows how an interrogation after an assault can be experienced and how such a trial often ends.

LAUS was a play that managed to be funny, but also serious at the same time. Lots of costumes and different props in bright colors created an exciting image, but often it became a bit too vulgar, we think. Many of the characters were very well done, but some of the characters were very similar to some stereotypes, which became a bit much in parts of the play. Otherwise, we think the play did a very good job of showing the point of view of a rape victim. The start of the performance was a bit slow, but really recovered after a spectacular monologue from the main character.

Even though this play was a bit vulgar, we think that it can be shown from 9th grade and up because the performance presented an important team very well. The performance showed Hove's way of thinking in a different way than anything we have seen before and it was very exciting. We think this performance was very good and there is not much negative to point out.

By Ella (15) and Mie (15) at Market for Performing Arts 2023

Photo: Ingrid Nordahl