Svea hund
Encyclopedia
Svea hund, complete title Svea Hund på Göta Lejon (Svea Dog at Göta Lejon
), was a Swedish variety show produced by AB Svenska Ord
. It was written by Hans Alfredsson and Tage Danielsson
, commonly known as Hasseåtage
and directed by Tage.
The show premièred on 15 February (although it had a sneak première on 9 February) 1976 on the theater Göta Lejon in Stockholm
.
It was the last of the three "Dog-revues"; the first was Gröna hund
(Green Dog) the second being Gula Hund
(Yellow Dog).
Both Hasse and Tage starred in various roles. Other cast members were Gösta Ekman
, Monica Zetterlund
, Lena Nyman
, and Tommy Körberg
. The song quartet EBBA (Lena Eriksson
, Lars Bagge, Kersint Bagge and Bo Andersson
) and Gunnar Svenssons Bandhundband.
. The sketch stars Tage Danielsson as Gustaf V
, Tommy Körberg as Tage Erlander
, Gösta Ekman as a young Olof Palme
, and Monica Zetterlund a common woman that Erlander had a child with. This child, played by Lena Nyman
is chosen to be the true heir to the throne instead of Palme, who in the sketch is the true Prince. But thanks to Gustaf V's tennis partner (played by Hasse Alfredsson), a German
on his way to Brazil
who introduces himself as Frankenstein
, although it is very clear who the German tennis player really is
. Thanks to a machine, the prince Olof and the infant switch brains. Olof becomes a socialist and the infant turns out to be Carl XVI Gustaf
. The whole sketch was a criticism to the Swedish government, who had collaborated a little too much with the establishment.
The second sketch, called "Rosornas Krig" (War of the Roses) was presented as an opera in one act with music by the Danish
composer H.C. Lumbye. Set in a garden, EBBA plays a bunch of vegetables who teases Monica Zetterlund's character, a rose, because she is only pretty and not useful. They however agree that the soul needs beauty, and that even the spirit can die from famine
. Soon the dandelion Tommy Körberg comes in, wanting to be accepted. But the vegetables dislike him because he is neither beautiful nor useful. The rose however falls in love with him and he feels the same way. Thanks to a bee (Gösta Ekman) the two flowers can be together. The rose states that the Dandelion is not ugly, he is handsome and yellow and he is also useful because you can make tea and coffee from him. The Dandelion also states that he is food as well, because he can be salad and his steam can be used as a trumpet. The moral of the story is that no one is truly useless.
Dandelion's Swedish name is 'Maskros', witch roughly translated means Wormrose, therefore the title.
The following sketch, Drama i vitt eller Himlen kan inte vänta (Drama in White or The Heaven can't wait) is set in a hospital, starring Lena Nyman as nurse Greata, Hasse Alfredsson as doctor
Pubel and Tage Danielsson as the patient, named Ivar Faust. The two hospital workers try to convince Faust to sign a contract in order to "solve the population problem". He will get to live La Dolce Vita
in a month before he dies on his own free will. Ivar however, prefers brown beans and the everyday life. In the end Doctor Pubel gives Ivar a cigarette so that he at least will have a shorter life.
På Söderns höjder (At the Söders heights) is a variety show within a variety show and a parody on the old Swedish pilsnermovies. This variety included, among other things, a tribute song to the pannier
, Kissinger and Sadat
having a contest; the one who can eat the most hideous frog will get the other one's secret documents, I Sportaffären (In the Sportsshop) which most of the time was improvised, were Lena Nyman was trying to buy a marble bag for her son but the shop assistant Gösta Ekman came with the most ridiculous accessories like a marble belt and a special marble glove.
Instead of doing one of his Lindeman sketches, Hasse Alfredson instead had a number where he told a new limerick
every night.
The second act begins with Mordet på Örebroexpressen - Efter en dum idé av Lars Peterson (Murder on the Örebro
express) - After a stupid idea by Lars Peterson). A parody on Agatha Christie
s Murder on the Orient Express
.
Stoppa Prissarna (A word play: Stop the dudes, but it just a letter different from Stop the press).
The editor
Cyrup (Hasse), the young journalist (Lena) and the Headliner Djuret (The Animal, played by Tommy) write exaggerated headlines and stories in order to sell single copies.
Istället för Bellman (Instead of Bellman
). Gösta Ekman holds a monologue were he tells many Bellman-jokes, but switches Bellman for more modern writers, such as Bo Setterlind, Sven Stolpe
and Bengt Jansson
.
The last number was called Hot Dog and filled with music and some small sketches. In it, Tommy Körberg sang one of the songs that since then has become one of his trademarks. Vid Molins Fontän (At Molin Fountain), based on Les Bourgeois
by Jacques Brel
and Jean Corti.
.
Göta Lejon
Göta Lejon is a theatre in Stockholm, Sweden, located in Södermalm.It is especially popular for musical productions.The current plays are: High School Musical and Buddy - The Buddy Holly Musical....
), was a Swedish variety show produced by AB Svenska Ord
AB Svenska Ord
AB Svenska Ord was the name of a well-known entertainment company in Sweden, run by comedy-duo Hasseåtage. It was established in 1961.-Productions:Svenska Ord published a series of cabarets, films, and books, among them some of the following:...
. It was written by Hans Alfredsson and Tage Danielsson
Tage Danielsson
Tage Danielsson was a Swedish author, actor, poet and film director. He was born in Linköping and died in Stockholm...
, commonly known as Hasseåtage
Hasseåtage
Hasseåtage is the commonly used name for the popular Swedish comedy-duo featuring Hans "Hasse" Alfredson and Tage Danielsson. The term was created by the Swedish press in the 1960s, and was never used by the duo themselves...
and directed by Tage.
The show premièred on 15 February (although it had a sneak première on 9 February) 1976 on the theater Göta Lejon in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
.
It was the last of the three "Dog-revues"; the first was Gröna hund
Gröna hund
Gröna hund, complete title Gröna Hund på Gröna Lund , was the first variety show produced by AB Svenska Ord. After that the writers/actors Hans Alfredsson and Tage Danielsson became known as Hasseåtage to the Swedish people....
(Green Dog) the second being Gula Hund
Yellow Dog (Variety)
Gula Hund is a Swedish variety show that had its première the 5 July 1964 on Chinateatern in Stockholm. It was written by Hans Alfredsson and Tage Danielsson and directed by Tage. Both of the writers starred in various roles.It was the second of "three dog-revues"...
(Yellow Dog).
Both Hasse and Tage starred in various roles. Other cast members were Gösta Ekman
Gösta Ekman
Hans Gösta Gustaf Ekman is a Swedish actor.-Biography:One of Sweden's most appreciated, respected and popular actors; Gösta Ekman started his career in theatre but has also appeared in several Swedish films, including the Jönssonligan series...
, Monica Zetterlund
Monica Zetterlund
Eva Monica Zetterlund was a Swedish singer and actress.-Biography:Zetterlund was a singer particularly noted for her jazz work. She began by learning the classic jazz songs from radio and records, initially not knowing the language and what they sang about in English...
, Lena Nyman
Lena Nyman
Anna Lena Elisabet Nyman was a Swedish film and stage actress.Having had her first film roles in 1955, Nyman had a role in Vilgot Sjöman's 491 and got her breakthrough in his I Am Curious , where she, in pseudo-documentary fashion, played a character of the same name as herself, and its sequel I...
, and Tommy Körberg
Tommy Körberg
Bert Gustav Tommy Körberg is a Swedish singer, actor, and musician. In 1969, he won Swedish Recording Industry Award Grammis in a category Best Debut Performance. English-speaking audiences know him best for his role in the Benny Andersson–Björn Ulvaeus–Tim Rice musical Chess...
. The song quartet EBBA (Lena Eriksson
Lena Eriksson
Lena Christina Eriksson is a former female breaststroke swimmer from Sweden, representing Spårvägens SF. She competed for her native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where she ended up in ninth place in the Women's 200m Breaststroke.-References:...
, Lars Bagge, Kersint Bagge and Bo Andersson
Bo Andersson
Bo I. Andersson was born in Falkenberg, Sweden on October 16, 1955. He grew up in the south of Sweden and entered the Swedish Armed Forces at the age of 19. He graduated from the Military Academy in Sweden. His last position in the Swedish armed forces was as a Major...
) and Gunnar Svenssons Bandhundband.
Sketches
Unlike many other varieties, Svea Hund had very long sketches. The first one, "Mäster Olof eller Den Vita Sporten" (Master Olof or The White Sport), is nearly 20 minutes long. The story is set in 1945 and spoken in verseVerse (poetry)
A verse is formally a single line in a metrical composition, e.g. poetry. However, the word has come to represent any division or grouping of words in such a composition, which traditionally had been referred to as a stanza....
. The sketch stars Tage Danielsson as Gustaf V
Gustaf V of Sweden
Gustaf V was King of Sweden from 1907. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg...
, Tommy Körberg as Tage Erlander
Tage Erlander
was a Swedish politician. He was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and Prime Minister of Sweden from 1946 to 1969...
, Gösta Ekman as a young Olof Palme
Olof Palme
Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet...
, and Monica Zetterlund a common woman that Erlander had a child with. This child, played by Lena Nyman
Lena Nyman
Anna Lena Elisabet Nyman was a Swedish film and stage actress.Having had her first film roles in 1955, Nyman had a role in Vilgot Sjöman's 491 and got her breakthrough in his I Am Curious , where she, in pseudo-documentary fashion, played a character of the same name as herself, and its sequel I...
is chosen to be the true heir to the throne instead of Palme, who in the sketch is the true Prince. But thanks to Gustaf V's tennis partner (played by Hasse Alfredsson), a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
on his way to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
who introduces himself as Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
, although it is very clear who the German tennis player really is
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. Thanks to a machine, the prince Olof and the infant switch brains. Olof becomes a socialist and the infant turns out to be Carl XVI Gustaf
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf is the reigning King of Sweden since 15 September 1973, succeeding his grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf because his father had predeceased him...
. The whole sketch was a criticism to the Swedish government, who had collaborated a little too much with the establishment.
The second sketch, called "Rosornas Krig" (War of the Roses) was presented as an opera in one act with music by the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
composer H.C. Lumbye. Set in a garden, EBBA plays a bunch of vegetables who teases Monica Zetterlund's character, a rose, because she is only pretty and not useful. They however agree that the soul needs beauty, and that even the spirit can die from famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
. Soon the dandelion Tommy Körberg comes in, wanting to be accepted. But the vegetables dislike him because he is neither beautiful nor useful. The rose however falls in love with him and he feels the same way. Thanks to a bee (Gösta Ekman) the two flowers can be together. The rose states that the Dandelion is not ugly, he is handsome and yellow and he is also useful because you can make tea and coffee from him. The Dandelion also states that he is food as well, because he can be salad and his steam can be used as a trumpet. The moral of the story is that no one is truly useless.
Dandelion's Swedish name is 'Maskros', witch roughly translated means Wormrose, therefore the title.
The following sketch, Drama i vitt eller Himlen kan inte vänta (Drama in White or The Heaven can't wait) is set in a hospital, starring Lena Nyman as nurse Greata, Hasse Alfredsson as doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
Pubel and Tage Danielsson as the patient, named Ivar Faust. The two hospital workers try to convince Faust to sign a contract in order to "solve the population problem". He will get to live La Dolce Vita
La Dolce Vita
La Dolce Vita is a 1960 comedy-drama film written and directed by the critically acclaimed director Federico Fellini. The film is a story of a passive journalist's week in Rome, and his search for both happiness and love that will never come...
in a month before he dies on his own free will. Ivar however, prefers brown beans and the everyday life. In the end Doctor Pubel gives Ivar a cigarette so that he at least will have a shorter life.
På Söderns höjder (At the Söders heights) is a variety show within a variety show and a parody on the old Swedish pilsnermovies. This variety included, among other things, a tribute song to the pannier
Pannier
A pannier is a basket, bag, box, or similar container, carried in pairs either slung over the back of a beast of burden, or attached to the sides of a bicycle or motorcycle. The term derives from the Old French, from Classical Latin, word for bread basket....
, Kissinger and Sadat
Sadat
- See also :* Anwar Sadat, former President of Egypt* Sadat * Saadat* Sadat. Term also used for the descendents of Holy Prophet Muhammad through Imam Ali and Bibi Fatima progeny....
having a contest; the one who can eat the most hideous frog will get the other one's secret documents, I Sportaffären (In the Sportsshop) which most of the time was improvised, were Lena Nyman was trying to buy a marble bag for her son but the shop assistant Gösta Ekman came with the most ridiculous accessories like a marble belt and a special marble glove.
Instead of doing one of his Lindeman sketches, Hasse Alfredson instead had a number where he told a new limerick
Limerick (poetry)
A limerick is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem, especially one in five-line or meter with a strict rhyme scheme , which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The form can be found in England as of the early years of the 18th century...
every night.
The second act begins with Mordet på Örebroexpressen - Efter en dum idé av Lars Peterson (Murder on the Örebro
Örebro
-Sites of interest:Örebro's old town Wadköping is located on the banks of Svartån . It contains many 18th and 19th century wooden houses, along with museums and exhibitions....
express) - After a stupid idea by Lars Peterson). A parody on Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
s Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient Express is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on January 1, 1934 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of...
.
Stoppa Prissarna (A word play: Stop the dudes, but it just a letter different from Stop the press).
The editor
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
Cyrup (Hasse), the young journalist (Lena) and the Headliner Djuret (The Animal, played by Tommy) write exaggerated headlines and stories in order to sell single copies.
Istället för Bellman (Instead of Bellman
Bellman
Bellman is an alternative term for a bellhop. It may also refer to:People named Bellman* Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet and composer* Eric Bellman, psychotherapist* Gina Bellman, New Zealand/English actress...
). Gösta Ekman holds a monologue were he tells many Bellman-jokes, but switches Bellman for more modern writers, such as Bo Setterlind, Sven Stolpe
Sven Stolpe
Sven Stolpe , was a Swedish writer, translator, journalist, literary scholar and critic. He was active in Swedish literary and intellectual discussion for most of his life...
and Bengt Jansson
Bengt Jansson
Bengt Gustaf Jansson is a former Swedish international speedway rider."Banger" was runner up in the 1967 World Final to fellow countryman Ove Fundin after losing a race-off and finished third in 1971, again after a run-off.He rode in Britain for West Ham Hammers, Edinburgh Monarchs, Hackney Hawks,...
.
The last number was called Hot Dog and filled with music and some small sketches. In it, Tommy Körberg sang one of the songs that since then has become one of his trademarks. Vid Molins Fontän (At Molin Fountain), based on Les Bourgeois
Les Bourgeois
Les Bourgeois is Jacques Brel's sixth studio album. Also known as Jacques Brel, the album was released in April 1962 by Barclay Records...
by Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following in France initially, and later throughout the world. He was widely considered a master of the modern chanson...
and Jean Corti.
Reception and legacy
Svea Hund på Göta Lejon became a great success and it was later filmed for TV and has since then been released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.