Spex (theater)

Spex is a traditional Swedish and Finnish form of amateur student theater . The word Spex is derived from the Latin word spectaculum ("drama").

Theatrical form

Spex are a form of comedy that mostly deal with historical motifs, but blindly mix them up and put them in a new context. People and events of the day are also often included in the plot . This gives the whole thing strongly anachronistic traits.

Rhyming

A distinction is made between two forms of spex: If the dialogues consist of rhymes , it is a spex of the so-called Uppsala School, if the dialogues are inconsistent, it is a spex of the Lund school.

music

In addition to the acting, there is a very large proportion of vocal interludes. Most popular melodies (everything from classical to hit music to rock music ) are provided with new text, which, like the normal dialogue, consists of many word games. The instrumental accompaniment can range from a piano to a symphony orchestra .

Interactivity

An important element of the Spex is the interaction with the audience, which can greatly influence what happens on stage. The custom of shouting for particularly good songs, word jokes or stunts omstart (in German: restart) is very widespread . Then the actors are called upon to repeat the scene immediately. Most of the time, they do it a different way than the first time.

distribution

Spex groups are mainly found at universities and colleges in Sweden and Finland. Most often these groups are made up of students and young academics . However, the performances take place regularly in public and attract a large group of people.

history

The origins of the Spex go back to around 1550 when students in Uppsala started playing classical theater plays in Latin in order to practice them. Over time, people began to write their own pieces, which gradually became more and more humorous. The first Spex according to modern tradition took place in Uppsala in 1851 and was called Trollflaskan (German: The Troll - or the magic bottle ). The first Spex took place in Lund in 1874 (with a piece written in Uppsala) and was highly regarded there at the end of the 19th century. Spex began to be performed at the Royal Swedish University in Stockholm in 1867 and in Chalmers in Gothenburg in 1948. At the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s, the activity of speaking began to decline, as one increasingly turned against ancestral traditions. However, this was only short-lived and from the end of the seventies the activity of speaking increased strongly again. Also at the newly founded colleges and universities in Sweden, Spex groups gradually formed, while today several Spex groups are active at the traditional university locations (e.g. at least 14 in Stockholm).

Traditions

Many spex societies have a large number of traditions for rituals , badges, or celebrations . The first known Spex that women played in did not take place until 1975 in Lund. Until then, men had played all roles. Nowadays, however, it happens that crossdressing takes place, that is, women play male roles and vice versa.