”Blessed be those without pretense”: A hermeneutic-semiotic analysis of the institutionally produced storytelling theatre of Västerbotten is a bachelor thesis in Performance Studies. The study aims to examine and define the aesthetic and commonly occurring themes of the institutionally produced storytelling theatre of Västerbotten, and to discuss the representation of the citizens of Västerbotten on stage, which ideals and characteristics are desirable and which are not. The theoretical framework of this study is supported by ethnological and sociological theories about storytelling and the method used is performance analysis based on semiotics and hermeneutics. Seven performances between the years 1998-2021 are deconstructed and analyzed. The results show several reoccurring and common features of the storytelling theatre of Västerbotten, such as the shifting between the storyteller's present moment and the time period of the story, the important role music plays in the telling of the story and the common setting of the farming societies of the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. Other reoccurring themes are those of Christianity, socialism, food, farm animals, and squalor. The ideal characteristics identified were honesty, integrity, and a good work ethic. There is an ambition for cultural preservation present within the genre and a lack of representation of minorities.