Playhouse, Sydney Opera House
October 17, 2018

The couple that seems to have it all but really, truly doesn’t is the jumping off point for Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage. Originally conceived for Swedish television in 1973, it arrives at the Sydney Opera House in a production from The Royal Danish Theatre, part of a suite of celebrations marking the 100th birthday of architect and Dane, Jørn Utzon. Performed in Danish, it boasts Borgen stars Stine Stengade and Morten Kirkskov (also the Artistic Director of the RDT) as the disintegrating couple at the heart of the drama. The production’s twist? The traits and storylines of their characters have been swapped round in an interesting gender switch, so it is now Marianne who pursues an affair with a 23-year-old, not Johan, who is left to fret and putter around at home.

Stine Stengade and Morten Kirkskov in Scenes from a Marriage. Photo © Prudence Upton

In an introduction to the published version of his script, Bergman describes his central pair as “smug in a quiet way, convinced that they have arranged everything for the best.” In this version, we get that sense of assurance...