Sydney Opera House Presents SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE

The Sydney Opera House today announced it will present five exclusive performances of Ingmar Bergman's stark and anti-romantic classic Scenes from a Marriage. Direct from a sell-out season in Copenhagen, this collaboration between the Royal Danish Theatre and the Opera House will coincide with the 45th anniversary in October of Australia's most famous building.

Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage is the razor-sharp dissection of a once-happy couple. Johan and Marianne appear to have a stable and fulfilling life together, with two children, successful careers and a beautiful home. Yet behind the façade, their relationship is a battlefield of victories and defeats, happiness and turmoil, tenderness and rage.

Actors Stine Stengade and Morten Kirkskov, from the acclaimed TV series Borgen, will perform the lead roles in Danish (with English surtitles). Their powerful chemistry will bring Marianne and Johan's story to life in a riveting and complex portrait of marriage. This unique stage adaptation of Bergman's 1973 groundbreaking work - credited with dramatically increasing Sweden's divorce rate - will challenge audience expectations by swapping the lead roles. This time, it is Marianne who chooses to leave her husband Johan and their young children in pursuit of a better life with her young lover.

Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron AM says: "The Sydney Opera House opened its doors to the world in 1973, the same year that Bergman's trail-blazing drama aired on Swedish Television. This fresh production by the Royal Danish Theatre is a fitting reminder of the Opera House's deep connection with Danish creativity, and in particular its architect Jørn Utzon, who, like Bergman, would have celebrated his 100th birthday in 2018. We look forward to sharing our 45th anniversary celebrations with the community this October, and will announce the full program soon."

Sydney Opera House Head of Contemporary Performance Olivia Ansell says: "There is no better stimulus for a fictional play than the chemistry of real life. People are fascinating and frighteningly familiar all at once. The Royal Danish Theatre's contemporary direction flips the gender and power balance, propelling Ingmar Bergman's classic play well into the 21st century."

Contemporary Performance at the Opera House champions modern storytellers, pop-culture visionaries and work that is bold, entertaining and genre-straddling. The program presents the best Australian and international productions spanning contemporary dance, theatre, circus, magic, comedy, musicals and cabaret. It has featured Michael Keegan-Dolan's Swan Lake/Loch na hEala, genre-defying Hot Brown Honey, the podcast trailblazer Brian Reed, the Australian premiere screening of cult Netflix series Stranger Things 2, the Sydney premiere of Green Day's American Idiot, the Tony Award-winning musical Assassins and Ballet Preljocaj's contemporary retelling of Snow White; up next is Jakop Ahlbom's chilling production of Horror.