“Theatremaker” is his title on the Gothenburg City Theatre website. “A new Brecht,” wrote a critic in Tampere.
After graduating from the Malmö Theatre Academy in 2010, Iggy Malmborg has toured with his own company, primarily at theatres across Europe, and has made guest appearances on Swedish stages.
But in 2023, he began working in Swedish, at the Gothenburg City Theatre and Backa Teater. The offer to take over the artistic leadership at Folkteatern coincided with his completing the final part of a theatre project he had been working on for several years. The play "Sortistycken" premiered in Leipzig this summer and will be performed at the Gothenburg City Theatre at the end of October.
It’s about endings, about how difficult they are, about what they mean. It lives on and will tour next year as well.
Stationary
Now he will be more settled. He will not formally take up the post until January 1, 2028, but work on creating his own repertoire for autumn 2028 will begin immediately. He will also bring his contacts at European theatres with him to Gothenburg, and wants to invite foreign directors.
I think I’ve started to get to know the Gothenburg theatre a little, and I feel even more connected to the Gothenburg audience.
“Furious and crazy”
Above all, Iggy Malmborg wants to fill “a gap” that he thinks he sees in Swedish theatre.
It can also involve established Swedish names, but I want them to create a kind of production at Folkteatern that they wouldn’t do on other stages.
I’m looking for something that combines the extremely vulnerable with the very wild and crazy.
Born: 1987, raised in Riddarhyttan.
Background: After graduating from the Malmö Theatre Academy, he has run his own touring theatre companies, which have mainly performed at European theatres. His production "Physics and Phantasma" premiered in 2017.
He has also appeared in a number of Swedish films and television series, including "Stenbeck", "Comedy Queen" and "Bron".
New job: Artistic director of Folkteatern in Gothenburg from January 1, 2028. “Among other things, I want to invite writers who have never written plays before. I will direct one production a year at Folkteatern myself.”
Dream role: “Kohlhaas” by Heinrich von Kleist, originally a 19th-century novel about violent resistance. “It asks clear questions about where the line is drawn between exploitation and humiliation of what you could call the struggling classes,” says Iggy Malmborg.
