RATHAUS
A stage work by Freja Hallberg
A grotesque office. A deadly decision.
Two acts about what we execute, what we permit – and what we become.
RATHAUS is a brutal, musically driven performance about bureaucracy, complicity and systemic violence. Absurd and unsettlingly bureaucratic, it examines the link between everyday systems and structural cruelty – not through explanation, but experience.
In Act I, a group of clerks at a glassy government agency carry out daily tasks: emails, spreadsheets, digital meetings. Slowly, unease creeps in. This is not an ordinary office – this is the Authority for Population Reduction. What begins as comedy becomes disturbing.
Act II ruptures everything. The office disappears. The same clerks reappear – but now, in unbearable proximity to what they do.
Driven by a live musical score composed by Anton Alfvén, RATHAUS is a rhythmic, political and affective work designed for international touring.
Performed in German with English subtitles.
“Unexpected, intricately constructed and highly distinctive.” Björn Sandmark
“An unsettling meditation on the consequences of bureaucracy and social order.”
Dagens Nyheter
“Responsibility is placed upon the audience in an unusual and partly fascinating way.”
Björn Sandmark
“A production that quietly enters your DNA long after you have left.”
Svenska Dagbladet
WORLD PREMIERE 16 MAY 2026
Stockholm, Konträr
Also 17, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29 May Stockholm, Konträr
Available for touring 2027
Info Box
Title: RATHAUS
By: Freja Hallberg
Premiere: May 2026 (Konträr, Stockholm)
Language: Performed in German with English surtitles
Cast: on stage Alexander de Sousa & Ella Schartner, on video Brigitte Zeh, Lino von Larcher
Crew:
– Written & Directed by Freja Hallberg
– Live Music by Anton Alfvén
– Set Design by Ylva Norlin
– Costume Design by Maja Mirkovic
– Light Design by Maja Lindström
– Technical Direction by Froste Myrin
– Swedish - German Translation by Elke Ranzinger
Technical: Black box, live soundscape
Touring Availability: from 2027
Produced by: SWEETS
Co-produced by: Konträr
Supported by: Stockholm City, Kulturrådet, Stockholm Region
CONTACT: info@sweetsproduction.com