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<title> 7:3, a play by Lars Norén </title>
Is it a characteristic of art or is it just a way to express Nazi sympathy? In this essay I will argue for the controversial play 7:3 written by Lars Norén and produced by Isa Stenberg.

The play is about John Norén, in fact Lars Norén himself, who is a dramatist. He receives letters from prisoners in Tidaholmsanstalten and they ask for material for a theatrical performance. John Norén meets the prisoners, records their meetings and starts writing in a documentary way about their meetings. The play or drama is a balance act between reality and theater, between a sometimes frightened humanist, two Nazis and one member of the military gang. The prisoners are, in the play, played by themselves. 
John Norén wants the prisoners to open up to him and to tell him about their experiencies and why they think the way they do about a "pure" Sweden, if this has something to do with their childhood or growth. But the prisoners do not want to talk about their childhood at all, instead they want to express their feelings about nationalism. 

The play has been criticized for not being a real play or drama rather than a Nazi propaganda weaved into a play. The prisoners are also criticized, and this because they are prisoners in real life and that they in fact are playing themselves. They have clear opinions about nationalism and they have declared themselves as New Nazi sympathizers. The critics say that the play is just a way for the prisoners to reach out to a larger group with their ideas through a famous playwright who likes to cross borders.

My answer to these arguments, why the play 7:3 should not be showed to people, is simply that it is just a play. It is a real drama, about real people and about real feelings. The main theme is the meeting between an author, John Norén (Lars Norén) and three inmates who want to play theatre. The story takes place during the winter and the spring of 1998, and it ends when the summer begins. This is why I call it a documentary play rather than a propaganda play. Everything the actors do is located in the past, and the play is also revised. 
I think that one explanation to why Lars Norén has chosen to use real prisoners in the play and not professional actors, might be that the prisoners are those who really know about life in prison. They know everything about the hidden Nazi sympathies that exist and, about what constitutes another theme, the treatment of offenders. Another possible explanation is that the author wants to get as close as possible to reality, and since the prisoners contacted Norén in the first place, it is about the wish to act, and therefore they might as well join the play. 
As for the prisoners using Lars Norén to reach out with their nationalistic message, I do not agree. When they first contacted Lars Norén they had no idea that he would write a play about them. In fact, it is Norén who is using them. I believe that Norén has written a play with the aim to reply Nazism on a personal level. In their discussions during the story, Norén tries to get the prisoners aware of their views and that these do not correspond with his. Norén also tries to show the prisoners that their opinions conflict with our fundamental laws and that this is why they are prisoners. The title 7:3 alludes to a legal paragraph which includes rules, leaves and the guarding of inmates who are thought to be likely to run away or devote themselves to crime during their time in prison. 
The play is made from a documentary basis and it is the first play in Sweden made this way. Maybe this is why it has been so criticized. We are simply not used to it. It is common on television but it has never been seen on the scene before.

My opinion is that 7:3 is a theatrical performance which needs to be showed. We cannot keep running away from the problems that already exist. It is better to get them out in the open for discussion and debate rather than keep closing our eyes. 7:3 ought to start a political and ideological debate about inmates and hidden Nazism. This play is not less important than a book about the Holocaust, but it is nevertheless unpleasant. The aim with the play is not to laugh and give great ovations, the aim is rather to make you think.
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