In celebration of Scandinavia House’s 25th anniversary, SATC is proud to present a staged reading of Sofia Fredén’s black comedy, Hand in Hand. This performance marks a special homecoming—the play was first performed on this very stage in 2011 as part of SATC’s debut Contemporary Reading Series.
In Sofia Fredén’s dark comedy Hand in Hand, a group of desperate urbanites navigate the cold, unforgiving landscape of Stockholm’s housing market. Forced together by the basic need for shelter, five young adults and one misplaced father find themselves entangled in a web of absurd negotiations, transactional love, and biting humor.
The play has been translated by Edward Buffalo Bromberg.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Sofia Fredén (Sweden) has written prolifically for the theater and also writes for film and radio. Her plays have been produced both regionally and internationally, including at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. Sofia received the 2005 Critics Prize for Children and Youth Theatre (presented by the Swedish Association of Theatre Critics) for her three plays that played simultaneously at three different theaters: Bara Barnet (Only a Child), Ruttet: ett prinsessliv (Rotten: The Life of a Princess), and Solapan (The Sun Monkey). In 2008, Sofia received the Ibsen Stipend for her play White Baby. In 2010, Sofia Fredén was awarded the Swedish Henning Mankell Grant, annually awarded to a playwright who “through their work has shown social and political engagement and an interest in Sweden’s relationship to the surrounding world.” Several of Sofia’s plays have been translated into other languages, primarily French, German, and English. Since 2004, Sofia has been the head dramaturg and playwright-in-residence at “Kulturhuset Stadsteatern,” Stockholm City Theatre.
ABOUT THE SATC
Scandinavian American Theater Company (SATC) is a non-profit theater company founded to provide Scandinavian perspectives through the new generation of Scandinavian playwrights and theater artists. We present contemporary plays and inventive takes on the classics from the Nordic region, which includes Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. They are committed to strengthening the relationship between Scandinavia and the United States through collaborations and interdisciplinary artistic exchange that examine and challenge the cultural status quo. SATC has been presenting their SATC Contemporary Reading Series at Scandinavia House since 2011.