Aniara is a versified epos written by Harry Martinson in 1956. The story is about a large group of people who are being evacuated from earth to Mars because the earth is radiated. However something goes wrong. They fall out of course and end up on a never ending journey in space.

This essay examines the relations between the epos

Aniara and Lars Rudolfssons dramatization for Stockholm City Theater, played during the fall/winter of 2010. Through performativity and narrative theories I analyze narrations and characterization in the text and in the play. I analyze ideas of the characters appearances in the play, how the starship Aniara physically is represented on stage and what the dance and the music of the play represent. The essay has evolved to a study around the most important symbols of both the epos and the play – time and space.