Published 2026-06-15 11.11
The hero from Öresund
FredriksdalsteaternHelsingborg. Director: Anders Aldgård, co Eva Rydberg, Claes MalmbergBirgitta Rydberg, Robert Rydberg, Fredrik Dolk, Katarina Lundgren-Hugg, Joakim Larsson, Gustav Berg.
HELSINGBORG. Eva Rydberg says goodbye with a fantastic finale.
She is masterful in an encore that fast-forwards a stage life. A declaration of love to Fredriksdal.
The whole performance does not live up to that level, but celebrates the tradition.
The farce is ready. The love couples have found each other. The audience cheers and all the artists thank for the applause. The stage clears. Then Eva Rydberg sings the specially written song Niklas Holtne. Magical. In itself worth a ticket and a detour this summer.
The 100-year-old play “Hjälten från Öresund” is more uneven. An old-fashioned plot that is hard to take seriously. Young woman chooses to marry unknown older gentleman because she believes he saved her life when she fainted while swimming in the sea.
After the break, there will be better drafts with sea winds on stage. Claes Malmberg, as the marriage-minded factory worker, and Eva Rydberg has swimming school in extraordinarily silly outfits. An entertaining bathing number that washes away the moss and cobwebs from the first act. It cheers you up.
The best bits don’t have much to do with the plot. Like when the two protagonists duel in a potpourri of top Swedish 1960s songs.
In 1993 I wrote about Eva Rydberg’s first summer at Fredriksdal. That she blew in like a fresh wind at the open-air theatre. That the then 50-year-old debuting girl flick should be welcome back for more leading roles. So it happened.
Nils Poppe did his 28th summer at Fredriksdals. Eva Rydberg beats him, and has also played a few summers outdoors at Sundspärlan after the municipality’s flop in extending her suite. Now she is back on the stage she made her own. She played husa in 1993 and she plays a similarly grim husa now.
The last summer will also be a bow to the predecessor. The play was written in 1926 in Germany and Nils Poppe performed it at Fredriksdalsteatern anno 1978. I saw him play it as “Take me! I am yours!” 1987, then turned into a musical.
The plot felt old-fashioned even then. There are too many similar misunderstanding scenes where one person is talking about something, dogs or cooking, and the other thinks they are talking about sex. Here is a roaring fart hilarity for those who still have a child’s mind.
Good actors lift, though. Fredrik Dolk is funny as the manufacturer’s alcoholic best friend. The radar pair Birgitta and Robert Rydberg playing daughter and priest respectively, two dog owners with mating dreams.
But the action means nothing. What remains are all the knitting tracks and additions. And the last song when it’s all over.
Eva Rydberg waves nicely and exits the stage. The finest minutes I’ve seen all summer at Fredriksdal. A beautiful and dignified farewell.
