Decorah native will stage a play that deals generally with the issues involved in the Norwegian bombing

Scandinavian countries are trying to deal with the changes in their societies brought on by large influxes of immigrants, especially Muslim immigrants.  It's an issue that was at the heart of the recent bombing in Norway.

So when Decorah native Ethan Bjelland was looking for a play to stage for his Senior Honors Show at Gustavus Adolphus College this coming fall, a play by Swedish author Jonas Hassen Khemiri rang true.

"I lot of the things I read about in the play are the same issues," he told decorahnews.com.  In fact, Ethan thought the play even spoke to the way we're treating immigrants in the United States.

There was just one complication.  The play, :Five Times God," had never before been translated from Swedish into English.  That means it's been a busy summer for Bjelland.

Ethan learned of the play after taking a Swedish class at Gustavus and reading one of Khemiri's essays.  That led to reading "Five Times God," which deals with "apprehension of anyone who isn't white," a topic very important to Khemiri, who comes from Tunisia.

Bjelland has completed an English translation of the play--the first ever English translation--but now needs to produce performances of the play at Gustavus starting November 11th.  He'll try to figure out how to make the play work for American audiences.  He'll also put together a production team and then find five cast members.  "I think it's really going to be fun to see what the actors bring to it," he says.