Malmöbar’s liquor drama wants visitors to put the drink down their throats

Oskar Stenström’s past as a bartender was a perfect fit when Banditsagor wanted to highlight alcohol problems. In “White Nights” he acts as a bartender and an actor.Image: Lars Brundin

Do you drink a glass of champagne when you want to celebrate something? And maybe a whiskey when you want to muffle a disappointment? Maybe a beer when you are restless and want to invent something? And maybe a glass of wine when you’re stressed out and want to relax?

Alcohol as a solution to everything is something that Henrik Bromander and Oskar Stenström have thought a lot about. They had worked together for a while, but it was only when alcohol brought them together during a tour that they achieved a closer relationship.

– It turned out that we had a great common interest in drinking good things and we started doing it. But soon we also started talking about bar culture, family problems with alcohol, and our own semi-problematic drinking, says Henrik Bromander.

He is a renowned writer and playwright. Oskar Stenström is an actor and one of the forces behind the Banditsagor performing arts collective. But he also has a past as a bartender in Malmö’s nightlife and today he works as a waiter at the Talldungen farm hotel in Brösarp.

– Throughout my adult life, I was drawn to that industry knowing that alcohol has destroyed many things in my family, says Oskar Stenström.

Closer therapeutic conversations between the two and director John Hanse have now led to Banditsagor’s performance “White Nights,” which is also the name of the cocktail bar in the plot.

“We try to physically mold this duality with alcohol. It is like the edge of a knife between pleasure and suffering and can manifest itself in one and the same person. We want to create something that is a little more than going to a ‘random theatrical performance ‘about love and pain. And happy that people look at themselves in a different way, “says Henrik Bromander.Image: Lars Brundin

The setting is the real Care / Of cocktail bar in Malmö Live. A place they chose with care.

– Stefan Forsberg, owner of the bar, has said that it is built like a theater stage where guests should be able to see the bartender at work, says Henrik Bromander.

Visitors to the show “White Nights” They will also be guests at the White Nights cocktail bar. The ticket price includes a series of drinks to consume during the performance and with headphones in your ears you can follow what happens to the bartender played by Oskar Stenström.

– An important artistic aspect of this is how you, as a visitor, are affected by alcohol. It is not uncommon for people to have a glass of wine during the theater break or at the opening. Here we take another step and the idea is that you get drunk. What happens to your experience with the artwork when you experience increasing intoxication? says Oskar Stenström.

– There is also the idea that we play the shows during the day. What do you do as a visitor when you leave the show at 4pm and have had 3 or 4 drinks? What do you do with what you have experienced? Do you have another beer after that? We believe that acting can have practical consequences, says Henrik Bromander.

Visitors will be able to enter the room just before White Nights opens and then partake in a bark night there in condensed form.

– But it is not just any night that is played. It is a night when something revolutionary happens to the bartender and leads to dramatic life choices. You can relate it very easily to this black part of alcohol, says Oskar Stenström.

At the same time, they are very careful not to black alcohol paint, but it also shows on its good sides.

– Hopefully shake good drinks for all the guests, but it is a story about a border country and what happens there. Henrik has described it very well in the script: “White nights is a concept in which you should have the opportunity to have good drinks at an affordable price, but also to see beyond what you have in the glass. Realize that what you pour into yourself contains something extremely complex and contains a whole network of fascinating and tragic life stories ”, recites Oskar Stenström.

That alcohol is so anxiolytic And creating anxiety is a very clear part of the show. Henrik Bromander himself took a white month last year and the result was interesting and terrifying.

– I’ve probably never felt better physically. But I slept badly all month. I had a hard time chilling and relaxing. I realized that it’s not just because I drink well, says Henrik Bromander.

Will it be complicated for Care / Of that you have an idea about the front and back of the alcohol with them?

– No, if you have your own business today, you cannot wear blinders around these backs. You are very good at making sure people don’t get too much, says Oskar Stenström.

– They have nothing to gain by complaining that alcohol can be destructive. Stefan Forsberg from Care / Of described alcohol in our conversations as a poison that is good in moderation. We don’t want to create sobriety propaganda because we love to drink, but we think it’s important that you look closely and dare to see the darkness that exists in all activities, says Henrik Bromander.

– The alternative for oneself may not have to be absolutism, but moderation, says Oskar Stenström.

“What is it that makes one alcoholic drinker fit so well in a place like this while another fit so poorly? Although they actually see alcohol in the same way, ”Oskar Stenström wonders.Image: Lars Brundin

How has working with the program affected you?

– We have become more aware of the good and the bad of our own drink. But it also opened my eyes to how many people have a close relative with an alcohol problem. It gets a bit shocking when you realize that it’s still such a strong taboo that we don’t talk about it. At the same time, he has contributed a lot to the collective sentiment in the group, says Henrik Bromander.

So when is alcohol better?

– Conceptual in theory, when I think about a dinner Henrik and I should have and think about which bottle we should start for the sandwiches and how good it will be with champagne to start, says Oskar Stenström.

– So it’s better in the head than in reality? It is interesting. I agree, says Henrik Bromander.