Dramaten stars at Drottningholm

A collaboration between Dramaten (the Royal Dramatic Theatre) and Drottningholms Slottsteater this autumn will see Johan Rabaeus and Andreas T. Olsson playing Beethoven and his nephew in Niklas Rådström’s new play The Deafness. The play is due to premiere at Drottningholms Slottsteater on 5 September, when the actors and a string quartet from the Drottningholm Theatre Orchestra will bring humour, conviviality and music to this historical stage.

The Deafnessis a joint production between the Royal Dramatic Theatre and Drottningholms Slottsteater, where it will have a run of four performances in September before transferring to the Royal Dramatic Theatre’s second stage in November. The period environment at Drottningholm provides the perfect frame for an all-round experience.

The play is set on the evening of 23 May 1824. The Ninth Symphony has just had its second public performance. The premiere was a hit, but this time the auditorium was half-full and the reception lukewarm. Beethoven is livid. Back at home, his beloved nephew Karl, whom Beethoven has wanted to adopt as his own son, is waiting ready to receive the offended genius. The Deafnessis a gripping comedy about total pitch, emotional deafness and creation and their interaction with the living and the dead.

“We’re very much looking forward to working with Drottningholms Slottsteater, which is only 22 years older than Dramaten,” says theatre director Eirik Stubø. “The fact that it’s a newly written play about Beethoven by Niklas Rådström is also brilliantly fitting, as we head towards 2020 – the 250^thanniversary of Beethoven’s birth.”

Johan Rabaeusis one of the Royal Dramatic Theatre’s most popular and experienced actors with more then 30 productions on the national stage under his belt, including long-running shows like The Miserand Amadeus. He has also featured on radio and television and in film.

Andreas T. Olssonwas a hit at the Royal Dramatic Theatre with L’Impromptu de Versailles,Sufflörenand När det kommer till kritanand has garnered critical and public acclaim for his comic talents. Andreas is also a dramatist and author, and will be appearing this spring in a new premiere of The Merry Widow at the Royal Swedish Opera and in the TV series Bröllop, begravning och dop.

Niklas Rådström is one of Sweden’s leading authors and dramatists, with a long list of notable novels, poetry collections, plays and screenplays to his credit. His monologue När det kommer till kritan (2017)was recently performed by Andreas T. Olsson at the Royal Dramatic Theatre.

The Deafness
By: Niklas Rådström
Performers: Johan Rabaeus, Andreas T. Olsson and others
Musicians: Maria Lindal, Anders Åkered, Joel Sundin, Magdalena Mårding (Drottningholm Theatre Orchestra)
Premiere 5 September, Drottningholms Slottsteater.
Following performances on 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15 September. 
Performed at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in November.

For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact: Lena Törner, press officer at Dramaten, 070-372 61 47, lena.torner@dramaten.seElin West, press officer at Drottningholms Slottsteater, 0733 50 26 25, elin.west@dtm.se

The Royal Dramatic Theatre, commonly known as Dramaten, is Sweden’s national stage. It was founded in May 1788 by KingGustaf III.

Drottningholms Slottsteater has remained intact since 1766 and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is the only theatre of its kind in the world that still uses original hand operated stage machinery.