Welcome to a lively dinner party where friends have gathered, the wine has been decanted, and the hosts' two children are peacefully sleeping in the room next door.
In the ebb and flow of festive conversation, topics are discussed with great intensity, and the subjects shift at a rapid pace. Perhaps the evening takes a disastrous turn. Or maybe it's just an ordinary night where glasses are refilled, and words echo through the room?
Cheers to Life is a newly written drama that captures our contemporary world with an almost eerie precision. A tragicomedy and a clever mirror of our time.
The ingeniously written play by the German-Swedish playwright Maja Zade had its world premiere at Schaubühne Berlin in 2019 under the title abgrund. The production is directed by the internationally acclaimed Latvian-American Yana Ross, who previously staged A Doll's House at Göteborgs Stadsteater.
Yana Ross works across the globe and has been awarded the title of "best director" in several countries. She often works with classic texts, stripping them down to their core and making them relevant to our time and the place where they are performed. In Sweden, she has directed works such as Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, Mikhail Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog, and, as mentioned above, A Doll's House at Gothenburg City Theatre in 2018. In 2022, Yana Ross began a long-term collaboration with the Berliner Ensemble, Brecht's theater, as one of the resident directors. In the spring of 2024, her production based on Karl Ove Knausgård's My Struggle has garnered significant attention.
Premiere October 26 at Göteborgs Stadsteater
By: Maja Zade
Translation by: Marc Matthiesen
Directed by: Yana Ross
Actors: Hannah Alem Davidson, Ashkan Ghods, Johan Gry, Mia Höglund-Melin, Mattias Nordkvist, Jesper Söderblom, Caroline Söderström
Intern from the Theatre Academy: Nora Sadayo
Set and Costume Design: Zane Pihlström
Makeup Design: Ingela Collin
Lighting Design: Dainius Urbonis
Music and Sound Design: Jonas Redig
Dramaturge: Anna Berg
The production is part of the Far Away Festival in Reims in January, under the title no words.
Photo: Aorta
